Uorfi Javed is a mischief maker. And she is not apologetic about it. This is her new role in the current edition of MTV Splitsvilla X5: ExSqueeze Me Please, a dating reality show. Unlike last season, she is not pretending to be a contestant this time. “I just create mischief in the life of contestants,” she says.
The 26-year-old believes her unique clothes have given her this kind of visibility
“Other than the addition of a mischief maker, this time we also have the exes making appearances. There are so may twists and turns. The love triangles are my favourite. And the contestants are very vocal and I’m loving that,” she says over a video call from Mumbai.
The 26-year-old made her television debut in 2015 with Tedhi Medhi Family on Big Magic. That channel is now defunct, so not too many people knew about my debut. I then did a lot of other serials like Bepannaah, Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai…, she says.
While she worked in soap operas, she was also creating her own outfits side by side. “I was always into fashion and sewing outfits for Instagram. It was all D-I-Y. Then, around two and a half years back, I started going viral.” That is when she decided to take fashion seriously. “So I thought, let’s create outfits that will go viral,” she says.
For a person who comes up with such outrageous, bold, and interesting designs, Uorfi says that she does not really know where her ideas come from or what inspires her. She says she take her ideas to her “master ji” (tailor) who gives her directives a physical form.
It is her unique clothes that have given her this kind of visibility. When she got on Instagram and was only doing serials, she had around one million followers. But it spiked in the last two years and now stands at 4.8 million. “I just wanted to go viral,” she admits.
From compliments from Kareena Kapoor Khan and Karan Johar to critics booing her sartorial innovations, Uorfi has seen it all. “They won’t understand, you have to prove it to them. I have been consistent with my journey, my growth. My agenda is to become something and be the best version of me.” Her own favourites include her butterfly outfit (a black gown with green leaf motifs that also flutter like butterflies), the one with birds (a short black dress with two mechanical birds hovering over her shoulders) and an upcoming one with a print of the Taj Mahal.
Has she ever considered starting her own label? “That’s a lot of hard work and I can’t do it,” she says, adding, “Business wise I don’t know if it is profitable. I don’t know if my 4.8 million followers will buy them or not.” Anyway, most of her followers are men, she says. “Men follow me, women stalk me,” she grins.
The Mumbai paparazzi’s favourite, they always shoot her whether at the gym or airport. And how they do know where she goes? Is that a PR stunt or do they keep a tab? “You’ll find out about that and a lot more on my new reality show. It’s called Follow Kar Lo Yaar.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you market yourself.
MTV Splitsvilla X5: ExSqueeze Me Please airs every Saturday and Sunday at 7 pm on MTV and in Tamil simultaneously on Jio Cinema.