Shirley Setia spills the beans on her fashion choices, learning from Shilpa Shetty and more

She might have a fan following of 7.5mn on her Instagram handle and the number increases after every new cover she drops, but for singer and YouTube sensation Shirley Setia, winning people’s heart has always mattered more than what those numbers represent. Ever since a couple of her covers brought her into the limelight, the singer’s charm and voice has won people’s hearts, and one can safely say, Setia is well on her way to making her presence felt in the world of music. 

In an exclusive interview with Cosmopolitan India, Kapoor at her cute and candid best, talks about all things fashion, being a social media sensation, her favourite artists, and more. Read on.

Cosmopolitan India: Every time you post a picture or a video, your fans go gaga over how versatile your looks are? What is your individual style like?

Shirley Setia: I think my style is simple, casual, yet chic. You’ll probably see me a lot in shorts and casual wear. If we’re actually talking comfort, then I’d love to wear pyjamas. But unfortunately, you can’t wear it outside. 

Cosmopolitan India: What is that one fashion trend you love, and one that you just cannot understand?

Shirley Setia: I love crop tops. I always have. And a crop top paired with a high-waist jeans is the way to go for me. I don’t quite like low-waist jeans. They used to be super trendy a long time back. 

Cosmopolitan India: How do you express the mood and feel of your songs through the fashion choices in the videos? 

Shirley Setia: It’s absolutely important to do so. If it’s a romantic number, then wearing something floral in a pleasing colour really looks good. Colours and texture really matter as they express a lot along with the mood of the song. When working on a music video, having a really good stylist who understands you and also tries to push boundaries by experimenting with something new is as important as the music for us. It helps in making the video stand out. 

Cosmopolitan India: After winning hearts with your singing, you seem to be acing it at dancing in your videos as well. Is that something you consciously decided to do and will we see more of the same? 

Shirley Setia: I love to dance. Mujhe bachpan se hi dance ka bahut shauk hai (I’ve loved dancing since I was a kid). The fact that I get to finally do it through my films is a blessing in disguise. I got to explore different dance forms in my Telugu film Krishna Vrinda Vihari, and Nikamma was extremely challenging because I got to work with my dream choreographer—Ganesh Acharya. I went up to him and told him to not hesitate and be stern if I get anything wrong. I wanted to learn from him and get the expressions spot on. I had a blast on the sets. I hope that I get to do more of the same. 

Cosmopolitan India: Tell us about the time you spent with Shilpa Shetty and what did you learn from her? 

Shirley Setia: Shilpa ma’am is just fabulous. She’s a quick learner. I remember, once one of the choreographers was teaching her a step. They were brushing up withing those few moments, she picked it up. Just like that. They don’t call her the ‘Thumka Queen’ for nothing. It was an amazing experience to work with her. I learnt so much about expressions and her fitness regime. There is so much positivity radiating from her that you feel like giving her a big hug each time you speak to her. 

Cosmopolitan India: Being very active on social media and using it for professional purposes, how do you manage your screen time and other challenging aspects that come with social media usage? 

Shirley Setia: I think it’s an ongoing challenge. I say this because you don’t get as much time as you’d like when you’re shooting. Then there is also the other content your shoot for social media sometimes. I try to balance things out whenever I get the time. When I was travelling, I uploaded stuff from there. It’s easier when I’m not working 16 hours or so. You also save content for later. I had so much footage for Nikamma that my laptop crashed. My fans love to see what goes behind-the-scenes and my work. That’s how I try and stay connected to them. 

Cosmopolitan India: What’s your mantra for social media success? How important is it to create relatable content?

Shirley Setia: There is no mantra per-say. On social media, I am what I am in my normal life. There is no pretence. I might do a photo shoot once in a while. I feel like my social media is a mix of my work and me just being me. When I’m at home and in a chill space, my lights are dim and all. I just shoot and make something. People can, and do relate to it. It’s important to be yourself and not pretend. 

Cosmopolitan India: Take us through your journey of understanding social media strategy. It must have been a gradual process with various lessons.

Shirley Setia: I think, over time, I’ve learnt that numbers are not everything. Also, you should not take negativity and trolls too seriously. It happens everywhere and there is no solution to it. Just be yourself. In my normal life, I’ve just learnt to keep going and not giving up. These are simple things, but you need to implement it as well. You do have that mental block at times and wonder where things are going wrong. It’s important to not think so much, believe in yourself, for things will work out. 

Cosmopolitan India: In a recent interview, you said that singing just happened by chance, and you would have done something in marketing instead. Do you apply your marketing skills to your singing and social media presence?

Shirley Setia: In fact, it was the other way around. I was already doing YouTube covers and handling my social media when I was pursuing my degree. So, quoting examples during my course came very easy to me. I had a lot of fun doing it. My teacher always wondered and askwed ‘What do you do?’

Cosmopolitan India: What can your fans expect from you in the year to come as far as songs, concerts, and international collaborations are concerned?

Shirley Setia: All of these things, hopefully, will happen. I’m working on a lot of songs; one of them is my original as well, the other is going to come out this month. It’s a song composed by Akhil Sachdeva from the film Chhatriwali that stars Rakul Preet Singh. I’m quite excited for it. It’s a collaboration that I’ve waited for a long time. A couple of more are in the pipeline, but I don’t want to give out too many details. There are films coming up as well. 

Cosmopolitan India: Who are the singers whose songs you absolutely love singing? 

Shirley Setia: OMG, there are so many! All of Pritam da’s songs, KK sir’s and Arijit’s. The list is endless. There’s Diljit Dosanjh, Jubin Nautiyal, and Vishal Mishra, who sang ‘Kaise Hua’. The song is so beautiful that I sing it in my shows much to the love of my audience. I love AP Dhillon as well.