‘I’m Human and Will Make Mistakes, but My Heart Is Always in the Right Place’: Aanchal Agrawal on Her Viral Middle-Class Satire

Aanchal Agrawal is a standup comedian, content creator, and social entrepreneur known for turning middle-class quirks and everyday struggles into sharp, relatable satire. . Her viral series “Ameer Kaise Lage” and other sketches explore themes like class guilt, family pressure, and gender roles, earning her millions of views and a dedicated following.In an exclusive chat with Lokmat Times, she shares more about her journey and work.

Your sketches strike a perfect balance between humor and social critique. How do you decide which issues to spotlight?

Honestly, I don’t really plan it. Whatever’s happening around me, things I see, hear, or experience just naturally makes its way into my content. If something bothers me or makes me laugh in a very real way, that’s usually what I end up writing or filming about. It’s instinctive, not strategic.

“Ameer Kaise Lage” became a huge hit—what inspired that series, and did you expect it to resonate so widely?

Not at all. I was literally sitting by a hotel pool in a bathrobe, feeling unnecessarily fancy, and the thought just hit me. That’s how “swimming pool mein ameer kaise lage” started. I didn’t expect it to become a series, let alone blow up like that. I think it clicked because it was just a random, real moment that happened to be funny and very relatable.

Middle-class culture is at the heart of your satire. What’s one middle-class quirk you think deserves more attention?

I think one habit that doesn’t get picked up enough is how everything in a middle class house gets used in different ways or multiple ways at least. Like an old baniyan would become a cleaning cloth, old bedsheets would become mattress covers etc. I think it’s hilarious, we don’t care about aesthetics, we care about bachat!

How do you handle the challenge of being funny while also being socially responsible?

I have understood early in my career that having influence on people is a bigger responsibility than it seems. So I try my best to be responsible in whatever I share. I think through my opinions before publishing them. Having said that, I’m a human and I will make mistakes, but my heart is in the right place. So whatever I create comes from a place of authenticity and warmth, and that usually lands well.

Do you ever face creative blocks or pushback when covering sensitive themes like gender or class? How do you navigate that?

I get creative blocks of course, but I also get creative outbursts when I’m at the peak of my working capacity. As for push backs, it comes only when I have shared a polarizing point of view, but I’m still very grateful that I don’t get hate or trolling much. And if I do, I haven’t really noticed it, there’s enough appreciation to feel good about, I filter out the pushback.