Fresh off the success of the second season of her Netflix show, Masaba Gupta opens up about navigating relationships, social media, and fame
Masaba is still reeling from the resounding success of Netflix’s Masaba Masaba, a reality fiction series in which she stars alongside her mother, actor Neena Gupta. Things have really changed for the famed fashion designer since the first season dropped in 2020. In this freewheeling conversation, this ascendant creator speaks about the impact of Masaba Masaba on her life, the vexing world of serial dating, and rising above social media clutter.
Season 2 of Masaba Masaba is receiving great buzz. Were you sure it would work?
We worked hard on improving certain areas this time around, but to be honest I was surprised that it was so well received because that typically never happens after a successful first season. The show works because it’s so relatable. We’ve all been hot messes. But more importantly, we all want control.
How has having a successful show based on your life impacted you?
In terms of my parents and family, I would say that my relationship with them has gotten better. With my friends, it’s been interesting. In one way there’s a disconnect: Most of my friends have had babies; some are pregnant and about to have a baby. And then there are some who are not married—just single and casually dating. To be honest, the disconnect between all our lives isn’t just because of Masaba Masaba. I think the pandemic has had a big role to play as well. Everyone’s just spending a lot more time within themselves. But on the other hand, bonds have been strengthened because I think I’ve filtered out all the noise. Now I’m only spending time with people who I really want to meet because life is crazy busy.
What has the show done for your love life?
I’ve become a better communicator. While we were writing the show—we have four women writers—we were always cribbing and whining about men not being communicative or flaky or whatever. Yet women can be like this too. So we found a way to correct ourselves and say, if you want something to change, you have to change first.
How do you navigate social media?
It’s very important to know when to unplug from a trend. For a lot of brands, what happens is that if they harness a trend constantly, it backfires. I believe in constantly reinventing the classics and layering trends upon them—especially when it comes to clothing.
That said, there’s constant stress about what I’m putting out there: What if it’s been done and I just haven’t seen it? You try to put out your best work, your best products…but there’s already so much of it out there and then people are canceling you because they think you aren’t giving them anything new.
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But you’ve just got to keep at it. I don’t have the liberty to say I don’t want to be on social media. I also find it a very ungrateful attitude towards the kind of love that I get, since it’s a platform that connects me to people. In a way, these constantly changing trends, as well as call-out culture, work because it keeps pushing brands to be more original. At the same time, we’ve also got to stay true to our inner selves and have enough moments in the day when our inner voice says: “You know what? I think this is right. I’m going to go with it anyway.”
One piece of advice to young creatives.
Be original. Or at least be as original as possible. Because everything that we’re doing is somehow borrowed from something. But whatever your influences, make it as unique as possible—give it your own voice as much as you can. Also only do it if you enjoy it.
Do you speak from experience?
Yes. I’m good at Masaba Masaba because I enjoyed doing it. If I was irritated and stressed, it would have come across. So do things that bring you joy, and it’ll bring others joy too.
Writer-Sanjana Ray
Photographer-Manasi Sawant
Styling-Shreeja Rajagopal
