When we recently caught up with actor and social media personality Uorfi Javed, who is set to make her Bollywood debut, she wasn’t talking about fame or fashion, but about Indumati — her pet cat who, she says, keeps her grounded through the chaos. “She is my therapy; no joke,” says Uorfi. “After a chaotic day, I just sit with her and everything slows down,” adds the actor.

On National Pet Day today, she describes Indumati as having a “royal, slightly dramatic vibe” — and one that clearly rules the house. “My cat is a bigger diva than me and that’s saying something!” she laughs, adding, “Some days she’s extremely cuddly, and on other days, I need an appointment just to sit next to her.” The name, she adds, came instinctively: “I always go by vibe.”

While she has toyed with the idea of designing “cat couture”, Uorfi admits her muse isn’t the easiest to dress. “One wrong move and I’ll get scratched for ruining her aesthetic,” she says.

Beyond the pampering, the day also becomes a reminder to speak up for strays. “People need to stop calling cats unfriendly. They simply have boundaries, and honestly, we should respect that,” she says, backing the “adopt, don’t shop” message.

Uorfi Javed loves a good scandal. She was thrilled when she got her first death threat. “I felt like a star,” she says. She thinks throwing a party for her haters would be great fun. May as well “monetize the hate.” When she is not making news, she asks her PR team to cook up a controversy to shake things up. To get things going, she offers to post something provocative about getting breast implants on her Instagram page that has 5m followers.

We know all this through Uorfi’s new reality show ‘Follow Kar Lo Yaar’. Over nine episodes, the influencer lets us into her home, her work meetings, and her constant hustle to be rich and famous. Put simply, she wants to be the Indian Kim Kardashian. She isn’t coy about her ambitions or the things she does to achieve them. We learn that she has spent crores till date on fillers and Botox.

“I want to look 20 when I am 50,” she says. She’s hired a talent management team to get her work. There’s a Chinese fast-food brand that wants her to go to a cricket match wearing a dress made of wet noodles. Another makes her wear an outfit that looks like a giant loaf of bread. And then there’s her unique talent of turning household items into outlandish costumes. So far, she’s used eggs, tennis rackets, ropes and spoons, to name a few.

This isn’t your standard struggle story, and her stardom isn’t the usual movie star kind we find more palatable. “We felt there’s aspiration in her story. A small town girl from Lucknow, breaking into an industry where she knows no one. She’s come out of nowhere,” says Meghana Badola, executive producer of the show.

In 2016, Uorfi did bit parts in television shows. In 2021, she appeared as a contestant on the widely watched reality show Bigg Boss OTT, where she struck out early. Steadily, she took over our Instagram feeds wearing risqué costumes that earned her a lot of attention and a bunch of legal notices. Uorfi fairly credits her stardom to the paparazzi who, as we see on the show, are literally a phone call away. She returns the favour by providing crazy engagement on their social pages.

“While everyone else is selling perfection, Uorfi uses negativity,” explains Viral Bhayani, a senior photojournalist with millions of followers.

“Initially when I started posting her photos, my wife threatened to leave me because she felt I was promoting nudity and vulgarity. I communicated this to Uorfi and she understood. She’s worked towards bringing innovation and creativity in her outfits. People can see she’s intelligent, smart and funny. Now when brands approach me for projects, I pitch her over Bollywood celebrities,” he adds.

Uorfi’s popularity forces us to reframe our understanding of fame, and who deserves it. Even amongst influencers, personalities like Uorfi and Orhan Awatramani (known as Orry) are aberrations. They can’t be slotted under comedy, food, beauty, travel, dance — the most common categories of creators. Then why are we so invested in their lives?

“Uorfi is a new-age creator whose category is shock value, so her journey is a little different. There’s no good or bad, that’s just her niche,” explains Aditi Shrivastava, co-founder and CEO of digital content company Pocket Aces that also owns the influencer management company Clout.

She adds that this is now a legitimate skill. “What is beautiful about digital is that it is so democratized. Influencers are not dependent on an executive. Instead, they’re dependent on the millions following them. And money follows followers,” she adds.

This is true for Orry too, who is famous for having famous friends and attending parties. We don’t know what he does (remember ‘I am a liver’?). He’s made a career out of not having one. This can be infuriating to many, but as long as he’s got you hooked to his reels, it’s all good.

“Orry is a social experiment. He’s the most famous plus one. We are all talking about him. If that’s the goal, then that is achieved,” says Kim Sharma, executive vice-president New Media, Dharma Cornerstone Agency, the company that represents Orry. She points out that recently a theatre chain chose Orry to be the face of a campaign to bring people back to the movies. “They could have used any actor, but they called him because he moves the needle for the brand,” she says.

In that case, is it fair to discount them as vapid internet stars? Uorfi has aggressively shut down anyone who dares undermine her celebrity status. And there’s been a fair bit of that. That said, she shows remarkable self-awareness while dissecting her stardom.

“I haven’t achieved anything to have fans. I only have haters,” she says when invited to a fan event for creators. In a moment of vulnerability, she also wonders, “What if this goes away? I don’t have family money.”

Perhaps, she knows that at some point, shock value may run its course. Her next goal is to be taken seriously as a female entrepreneur. As she gets there, she will probably weave some new scandals and leave the cameras on.

Gracing the cover of Dirty magazine, receiving a heartfelt note from stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania and getting dressed by couturiers Abu Jani, Sandeep Khosla and Gaurav Gupta — internet sensation and fashionista Uorfi Javed is having the time of her life.

“It’s a good feeling, but I don’t need any validation from anyone. I got popular because I did what I had to do, not because some designers are now dressing me up or I am attending big parties,” says Uorfi, talking to us minutes after attending Gupta’s store launch on Friday.

Trolling for her experimental sense of fashion have never affected the 25-year-old. “[For] anyone who says that I’m doing this for attention, I can only say, ‘How intelligent are they!’” quips the Bigg Boss OTT contestant, who recently revealed on social media that “no designers would give me clothes, which is why I started making my own”.

Not that she feels bad about it when she looks back on it. “I wasn’t a big name back then. I didn’t know what exactly I was doing, so how could people trust me with their brand? Now, they see my vision. Mujhe aise koi problem nahin hui ki mujhe un logon ne kapde nahin diye. But I have made my point,” Uorfi insouciantly explains.

Days after this post, dressed in an Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla creation, she attended the premiere of their fashion film, as her custom-made outfit — a red thigh-high skirt with an attached pallu and an ornate headgear — drew plaudits aplenty. “Abu and Sandeep had kept me in mind while making this outfit. The blouse screamed Uorfi Javed! I don’t wear anything if I don’t like myself in [it]. This outfit just went with my vibe,” she gushes.

For her magazine shoot, Uorfi was styled by Adajania. She shares, “Anaita wanted to shoot with me way before this magazine cover happened. I couldn’t believe when she first texted me. So, this (our collaboration) was meant to be.”

So, has Uorfi arrived? The actor responds: “Hanging out with famous people isn’t success. Only hard work can help you get work. Yes, I am fashionable, but right now, I have no work. I know these things take time.”

Her recent shoot for Dirty magazine, where Uorfi was dressed by designers Anamika Khanna and Rahul Mishra among others (and the same creative team that worked on actor Ranveer Singh’s photoshoot with Paper magazine), was said to have put a lot of detractors in their place. However, she clarifies, “It’s not like I did that shoot to shut people’s mouths or it gave me any high or kick. When I was contacted for the shoot, I was blown away by their passion and crazy ideas. I truly did it for our love of fashion. I was kept in loop for everything. Like, I was co-curating the looks, I was on calls and [sharing inputs with] designers. Everything was done considering me in mind and that’s how the shoot went.”

Uorfi Javed was in Delhi recently, and says she faced a harrowing experience when her Uber cab driver ran away with all her luggage.

Speaking to us exclusively, she shares, “I had a few hours in Delhi before my flight, so I rented a cab for six hours. My team and I had gone for lunch, and we asked the driver to wait in the parking. When we came back, he wasn’t there. On calling, he kept giving excuses. When I checked his location, I realised he was an hour away from us. My male friend called him and said, ‘Tu abhi ke abhi aa, nahi toh hum complain karenge’. Woh restaurant toh aaya nahi, we caught him kahin par beech mein. He was drunk and kept asking for extra money. We refused to give it and rushed to the airport as we were getting late. He called us 17 times after that. When my staff member picked up, he started abusing her. We ignored him and boarded the flight. Aaj jab subah maine apna luggage check kiya, I realized a few of my things were missing.”

Uorfi says that Uber support didn’t help her. She adds, “They are asking me to complain to the police. Now, I will haveto go back to Delhi to complain. Mera pehle hi kaafi loss hua hai, abhi phirse flight and hotel book karna padega.”

For now, the actress is planning to file a zero FIR from Mumbai. After she tweeted about her ordeal, Uber had apologised and said it has “duly addressed” her concern. It added that it has a “zero-tolerance policy towards the use of drugs or alcohol while driving”.

Uorfi Javed has been grabbing eyeballs for her provocative attire and I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude over trolling and social media backlash. As the complaints against her pile up, we spoke to her about her controversial image, work and how her family worries for her.

The Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Tuesday asked the Mumbai Police to look into Uorfi’s request for security, following threats and complaints. She says, “There are big political leaders who want to take things into their own hands. If they think something is illegal, then they should go to the police or court, but people here want to take law into their own hands by threatening me publicly and saying that they will hit me. That’s why I feel unsafe and I’m left with no other option. It’s not some regular person who’s threatening me, but a politician who has the power to influence a lot of people. Many people follow them, and in that way, they can influence people to hit me. This isn’t right.”

Responding to those who say that her dressing style is to grab attention, she says, “Who decides what’s right and what’s not? Celebs say I am doing all this for attention...Yes, I am doing it for attention. This industry is all about getting popularity and getting attention, so what is wrong with it then?”

Uorfi adds, “I am just a 25-year-old who has done nothing wrong and these people are making me out to be a criminal. They are complaining about my clothes but are not willing to say anything to those who have been threatening me with murder and rape. These people don’t have a problem with my clothing, they are just here to get some attention by using my name.”

Defending her choices, Uorfi says that she is not the only one wearing “these kind of clothes” and that there were many girls who upload pictures in a bikini. “Today they are trying to dictate to me, slowly they will want to control all the girls and tell them what they should be wearing.”

But would this affect her prospects in this industry? “I don’t have a relationship or friendship with anyone in this industry. And if I am getting work in this industry based on my relationships with people rather than my acting talent, then I don’t want such work. If I believe in something, I will stand up for it and I will never compromise just to get work,” says Uorfi.

Uorfi’s parents stay in Lucknow and she says they do not interfere in her life or her career. However, they are worried for her safety, given the threats that she has been getting on social media. She says, “My mother gets worried when she hears about these things, because it’s not just on social media, I get calls too.”

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- BJP leader Chitra Wagh shared on social media that she had lodged a police complaint against Uorfi. “Half-naked women walk openly on the streets. Why is the Women’s Commission itself not taking notice of this? The protest is not against Uorfi but against the attitude of walking around openly in public places, (sic)” Wagh tweeted in Marathi.

- In response Uorfi tweeted, “Started my new year with another police complaint from another Politician! Bas Asli kaam nahi hai inn politicians k Paas? There is literally no article in the constitution that can be put on me to send me to jail. (sic)”

- Uorfi met the Maharashtra State Commission for Women chairperson and filed a complaint against Wagh for “criminal intimidation to cause harm”. She requested preventive action under the relevant section of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), alleging that Wagh had threatened to beat her during an interaction with media.

- Uorfi visited the Amboli police station to record her statement. No FIR has been registered over Wagh’s complaint yet, an official told a news agency.

- The Maharashtra State Commission for Women wrote to the Mumbai police commissioner asking to look into Uorfi’s demand seeking security.

The public may notice actor Uorfi Javed for her eclectic choice of outfits. However, she states that since childhood she has decided to wear “bold” outfits. She started her career with TV shows in 2016, and while six years may seem short to others, for her they have been quite long. “Mumbai mein kitni problems sehni padi hai, kaise survive kiya hai, only I know all that,” she reveals.

One may wonder what the hurdles were like in her “struggler waali phase” and she shares that she was manipulated by the makers of a web series to do a bold scene: “I wasn’t told that a series has bold scenes. When I went on the sets, they were forcing me to do it, saying I had signed a contract. Eventually, I didn’t do the web series. Unhone mere ghar pe gunde bhej diye. My roommate told me that people were looking for me.”

Sharing another anecdote, the 25-year-old says, “I was doing a mythological show. The creative (producer) saw my Instagram, which has always been very bold. I was in my room for 6-7 hours. Nobody came into my room, and when I asked them, they said they had replaced me.”