NEW DELHI: "My main concern is getting a seat on the metro," says second-year college student Rene Verma who has shot to internet fame after her parody rap taking on extremely popular singer Yo Yo Honey Singh went viral.
We managed to speak to her before she left for college on Tuesday morning. A history student at St Stephen's in Delhi, Rene claims that last week, drawn by the food on offer, she went to a cafe hosting a poetry slam. The topic was 'Portrait of a Lady' and she put together her rap titled 'An Open letter to Yo Yo Honey Singh' in just an hour while she was there.
Singh, 31, has been fiercely criticised for lyrics, especially in his earlier work, that are misogynistic; that hasn't stopped him from performing for some of Bollywood's biggest blockbusters.
There were 30 people in the audience when she performed; today, her video has got over a million hits on YouTube.
"It's not an open letter to just one person but to question the ideas of hyper-masculinity, femininity, people whose voices are not heard in such forms of music, and also consumerist anxiety," said Rene to NDTV.
Sample of her lyrics: "
Mein choti dress mein bomb
nahin lagti, yaar. I am not a woofer and you sure as hell ain't my amplifier."
But it hasn't all been praise, she's also been subjected to criticism with many accusing her of having a vested interest. Rene denies this, saying "it stemmed out of personal and political experiences" and says the type of criticism has only validated what she said in her song.
"I had no worldly clue that my piece will go viral, I really don't know how to process the response but I am thankful," says the youngster who now has to rush off to college.
Here's hoping she gets that metro seat.
Watch her interview: