Since actor Medha Shankr made her debut as actor Vikrant Massey’s love interest in filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, she’s been earning praise for her playing Shraddha Joshi. She also saw a big jump in her social media followers (16K to 1.4 million). Before she signed the film, she “never cared about Instagram” and didn’t “put out content regularly”. “After the OTT release, my followers grew massively. I am slowly realising the power of social media,” says the 33-year-old, adding, “You are not considered a star until your social media blows up. As an actor, it is important.”

Shankr adds, “It’s been overwhelming. Great opportunities will come my way because the film did well and my performance is being appreciated. We have to agree that social media pays a lot; its a great way to make money on the side through brand collaborations.”

The actor shares that the response she received for the film “was unprecedented”. “We were proud of what we had made and knew that the honesty we put into the film would resonate with people,” she ends.