Kusha Kapila: My personal life is sacred to me and I want to protect it

Kusha Kapila has aced the influencer game. She turned the gossip mills around when the news of her divorce, and then rumours of dating actor Arjun Kapoor, flooded the internet a few months ago. Now, the feed is abuzz with her rather full acting calendar. “I still can’t believe that I am starring in movies, and I am thrilled. But my personal life is sacred to me and I want to protect it, even when I am in the public glare,” says the 34-year-old social media star-turned-actor, whose new film, Thank You for Coming, hit the theatres on October 6.

The story highlights the importance of female friendships as it follows a woman—one born out of wedlock and brought up by a single mother—on her quest to find true love and pleasure.

The Rhea Kapoor production has been directed by Karan Boolani and also stars Bhumi Pednekar, Shehnaaz Gill, Dolly Singh, and Shibani Bedi. “It was exciting to be a part of a project that I now call ‘Rhea’s world’. It deals with a topic—women’s agency to bring up children by themselves—that needs to be addressed, and I hope all men and women watch it,” she says.

Kapila started out as a fashion writer, but her claim to fame was her satirical portrayal of a quintessential South Delhi uber-rich Punjabi ‘aunty’, Billi Mausi. Between 2016 and 2018, the fictional character took social media by storm, turning Kapila into an internet sensation.

Her online popularity—she has over one million subscribers on YouTube and 3.4 million followers on Instagram—formed a strong foundation for her Bollywood launch. It began with a role in Karan Johar’s segment in the 2020  anthology, Ghost Stories. “The actor life is quite different. Earlier, I used to cook and do everything on my own, but now I have costume designers dressing me up. Also, I have the paparazzi following me around. In the beginning, it would stress me out, but now, I think I have got a hang of it,” she says.

In 2022, Kapila starred in the second season of Masaba Gupta’s autobiographical show, Masaba Masaba as the designer’s PR manager, followed by another supporting role in the film, Plan A Plan B, starring Riteish Deshmukh and Tamannaah Bhatia, later that year.

Before Thank You For Coming, the actor starred in Sonal Joshi’s directorial debut, Sukhee, last month. She played best friend to Shilpa Shetty’s titular character. “I took up the film because, first, I have known Sonal since our college days; we did a lot of street plays together. It was so comfortable that I harassed her by asking a million questions on the sets. Besides that, it was a well-written script. Also, I wanted to work with Shilpa again (they appeared together on a talk show),” she says, adding, “I am not from the industry, so she (Shilpa) told me how to dress up for the camera and gave me a lot of makeup and diet tips. We bonded both as women and actors.”

With acting turning out to be a steady career, Kapila recently shifted base from Delhi to Mumbai. Talking about taking the plunge, she says, “The city has surprised me. It has welcomed me, but at the same time, you have to work hard and lead a disciplined life here.” Next on the horizon for Kapila is an Amazon Prime series with actor Palak Tiwari. It is expected to be released in January next year. “I have also signed an OTT show and a film,” she says.