The class of 2023: Ruhee Dosani on her content creation journey and managing it all with a full-time job

There are dance Reels, and then there is our cover star, Ruhee Dosani’s brand of high-tempo Bollywood dance videos that catapulted her to remarkable fame almost overnight. Meet the sensation, the woman owning Instagram right now... 

Cosmo India spoke to Dosani about her content creation journey and more.

Nandini Bhalla: Let’s start from the very beginning...how did you come to become this social media ‘Dancing Queen’? 

Ruhee Dosani: “It happened suddenly, nothing was planned. I was never into social media, really. And I only started making Instagram videos during the pandemic because everybody was doing it while being stuck at home. And the next thing I know, my Reels were blowing up. I still remember that specific day, that specific feeling... All of a sudden, people were recognising me and watching my videos was bringing them joy... 

For the first three months, I would wake up to something new and exciting every day. I still don’t know what happened there, it’s as if I had entered a glorious phase in my life. And things just kept getting bigger. For instance, I was stuck at 12,000 followers for a while, and then suddenly I hit 30,000 followers in two days! And then a week later, I was at 1,00,000! And then celebrities started following me... it was all crazy! 

I have a lot of creative friends and as my numbers kept growing, they said, ‘You can make this into a full-time job!’ And from there, my journey began. I feel like an unknown force was guiding me, pushing me to do this... And I feel like whatever I want just gets manifested, whatever I say happens. Like, I remember when I made a video on a Diljit Dosanjh song and he reposted it... He’s my favourite, by the way, and I’m going to make a music video with him this year. It hasn’t happened yet, but I am just going to manifest that...” 

NB: Describe your personal style. 

RD: “I feel like my personal style is very confident... It's like anybody can wear my clothes; my mom wears my clothes. Even my brother and friends share my clothes...though, sometimes, people can't pull it off.”

NB: Ooh, I can’t wait for that to happen…

RD: “Yes, so Diljit reposted my video, and I remember calling all my best friends and I was just dancing without music, because I was so happy. And I was like, ‘Okay, this is what I want to do!’ And I was consistent, but still not doing it for the Likes or views. I was just having fun. And then six months into it, I realised that people were making money on social media. So I thought to myself, ‘Let’s get serious about this!’. So that’s how it all started, and it’s going pretty well.” 

NB: I am loving your ‘big manifestor’ energy, Ruhee!

RD: “Everything’s working out great... So far, so good. Nandini, if you’d like me to manifest something for you, just text me...I gotcha. 

See, I don’t like to grow alone. I want people around me to grow as well. Because the more they grow, the more they’re happy. And if you have happy souls around you, it’s the best life because there’s already enough negativity in the world. I want everyone to experience the joy I feel. That’s not to say things are always easy for me. I literally just moved back to India, without any plan but to entertain my audience. And staying relevant isn’t always easy either; it is stressful. But if you truly enjoy what you do, I think it’s ‘good’ stress, it’s a different kind of rush.” 

NB: Tell me more about your unique content style…

RD: “So, I was born in the United States and brought up in India. And I absolutely love Indian music. I don’t know what Indian music does to me, and not just Bollywood— all kinds of Indian music, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi...all of it makes me happy. And years later, when I moved to the States,  I missed Mumbai a lot. I think once you live in Mumbai, you cannot live anywhere else. It’s difficult. So to keep my ‘desi factor’ going, I created several personal playlists with the music I loved. I played my music for friends, and everyone enjoyed it. Music has always made me confident, and my collection is very different, it’s a unique mix. And I use many of these songs in my Instagram videos...it’s fast, entertaining, high-energy music. Funnily enough, I started by creating videos on advertisement jingles from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and I think that made people nostalgic...and happy. And while the music I put out is high-octane, the music I listen to myself is love songs, romantic songs, sad songs...they make my heart happy.” 

NB: Ruhee, what a lot of people don’t know about you is that you also have a full-time day job! How do you manage to keep both jobs going? 

RD: “Well, I don’t get a lot of sleep. And I live by the motto, ‘Sleep is for the weak’. I am just kidding... I know that’s very bad for you, right?” 

NB: Yes, rather unhealthy…

RD: “Sometimes it changes to, ‘I’ll sleep for a week’ instead of ‘sleep
is for the weak’... It’s difficult doing it all. But the thing is, Nandini, I feel like I am going through a phase where I’m feeling a lot of FOMO. I don’t want to miss out on anything. I am still very young and I feel fine, and I do have the energy to do a lot of things. And the thing I do is wake up very early and start my day. I’m a morning person, and even if I am out at night till 3 am or 4 am, I’ll be up early, because I believe having a disciplined schedule is very important. Yeah, I know I need to stop staying out late because it’s bad for me and bad for my skin, but right now, it is what it is. So I start my day at work—I have a proper tech job—and then I manage my time carefully. But I’ll tell you one thing about how I approach life...I don’t like to plan things. I don’t carefully plan outings. Or a trip. Or my birthday. I prefer being spontaneous. But when it comes to work, I like having a schedule, I like being disciplined. My day job keeps me grounded, it keeps me sane and makes me realise the value of a lot of things. Because once you start making money in content creation, it can be a lot of money even if it’s not easy money. And I never want to see it as ‘easy money’ that comes from a 30-second video. But when I work at my online job, they don’t know me and they treat me like a regular colleague. And I like to be treated like a regular person because I don’t think I’m special. I’m just out there and it happens to be my time right now. And my mom will have a problem if I quit my job, so yeah... For now, content creation is my side job...and I am grateful it is going so well. But I have another job, which is my main job, and I like having both.” 

Photographs: Arjun Mark 
Photography Assistant: Gopi Krish 
Styling: Zunaili Malik 
Styling Assistant: Jaishree Chhabra 
Ruhee's Make-up and Hair: Kiran Denzongpa 
Talent Management: Monk Entertainment 
PR Manager: Parul Parmar 
Production: April Studios 

On Ruhee: San Diego Hoodie, Essentials Shorts, socks, and Stan Smith Shoes, all adidas Originals Stan Smith Styled With Blue Version Collection; sunglasses, Emporio Armani; earrings, INOX Jewelry