Nikunj Lotia, who we all popularly know as Nick from the YouTube channel Be YouNick, has forayed into the OTT space with his series, Apna Villa. Co-starring Tusharr Khair and Atul Khatri, the Amazon, miniTV series follow two friends who rent a villa to others and the incidents that follow. In an exclusive chat with News18, Nick opened up about tripling as a co-producer, co-director and actor in the series. He also talked about his dream Bollywood collaboration and left a word of advice for aspiring content creators.
Excerpts:
You are handling multiple responsibilities as the co-producer, co-director and actor of the series. Is it overwhelming?
It has always been like this with the team. We’ve been together for eight-nine years, and we do everything. So, it’s not new for us. And mini TV has been super supportive regarding that. They were easy on us and believed in what we were trying to do. It’s always challenging, to be honest. Whenever we’re doing something new, there are a lot of minor situations that we don’t think about, but it turns out to be difficult. It’s not as easy as it sounds. But it was a great experience.
How much of Nick do we get to see in this character?
Honestly, this character has Nick written all over it. I don’t think it’s any different from the real-life Nick or the characters that I’ve played in the past. This is for our OG followers who like me Tusharr and Vivek together.
Will it be relatable for people who do not follow your content?
The OG people would know why I’m reacting to it or why I am like this or why is the shot a certain way. But it’s still funny irrespective of whether you guys know me or don’t. We also introduce a new character, Manmeet, who is a popular Marathi actor. And I keep saying that you will come for us, and you stay for him.
How do you even now keep up with the trends?
If you guys follow my work you would know that we are not very heavy on following the trend. We create it. But we are not very analytical, and we don’t think that we have people following us so we should cater to them. There are two things that are very important to why we do it. Firstly, are we having fun while doing it and is it fun to watch?
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Tell us about the process of collaborating with Bollywood actors.
If they’re coming out with a movie, they do it to create awareness. So, we at Be You Nick are very picky about the people that we work with. It does more to them than to us, right? It is their movie that is being promoted. For us, it is an opportunity to work with them, which is obviously great. So, we love to work with people who understand this. And we have been very blessed that we work to work with people like Rajkummar Rao, Ayushmann Khuranna and Boman Irani.
Bollywood actors, you are looking forward to collaborating with?
We would really want to work with the legend Shah Rukh Khan and the legend Govinda sir. These are two names that have always been on my list. I’ve been waiting for that. We really want to work with them and if they pick us to work with, that’s going to be an opportunity. I don’t want to go to them. We’ve been patiently waiting for that and I’m sure it’s going to happen soon.
A word of advice for aspiring content creators?
There’s only one piece of advice. Don’t put yourself out in that rat race. The most important thing to do is have fun while doing things. If you’re not having fun while creating something, you’re doing a job. Then you might as well do a job, right? People tend to be so serious about doing it that they forget why they chose these in the first place. I used to watch a lot of content and I realised that I could see it on their face whether they are serious or they are having fun. And if you see someone smiling on camera, you feel like smiling. So, if you’re having fun, it would get conveyed to people. But if you’re stressed out and just acting, people will see through
you.
