Story Living and the Great Indian Commodification: How Influencers, Creators, and Film Personalities Are Turning Identity Into a Market

The Indian internet is changing fast, and if you look closely, you will notice something unusual. We are no longer in a country where people simply tell stories. We have entered a phase where people live their stories for the public. I call this story living. It feels exciting because everyone has a stage. It also feels slightly disturbing because this stage comes at a personal cost. The creator economy in India has grown into a huge digital marketplace. People trade privacy for attention. Attention becomes opportunity. Opportunity becomes income. Identity becomes a product. For anyone observing India’s cultural shift closely, this is the new structure of fame. I am saying this as the Editor-in-Chief of AltBollywood, someone who spends his entire day studying creators, influencers, producers, actors, and the new attention economy that surrounds them.

The Indian Influencer Marketplace: Where Attention Behaves Like Wealth

India has one of the largest creator communities in the world. Crores of people post content every single day, hoping to be seen. A few individuals understand the game more deeply. They do not just create content. They create themselves as content. Look at Uorfi Javed. She has turned self-expression into a full public performance. Every appearance becomes a cultural moment. She does not need a film release or a music video. Her body of work is her body itself. She knows the algorithm rewards boldness and novelty, and she uses that understanding like a craft. Now look at Orhan Awatramani, known everywhere as Orry. He calls himself a story liver. That term captures the new cultural shift perfectly. Orry does not claim to tell stories. He exists as a story. His clothes, his travels, his friendships, his lifestyle. All of it forms one continuous public narrative. Both are examples of the new Indian celebrity. Fame comes from turning daily life into a consumable product. The less you hide, the more the system rewards you. The more the system rewards you, the more life becomes performance. That loop becomes the engine of their careers.

Film Producers Are Also Entering the Game of Story Living

Earlier, producers stayed behind the scenes. Today, they stand at the frontlines of digital culture. Someone like Boney Kapoor knows that public visibility creates top-of-mind recall. Every comment, every post, every public appearance becomes part of a larger strategy.

The industry now understands that silence online looks like absence. If you are not online, the public reads it as irrelevance. Producers, actors, influencers, and even technicians are participating in story living to stay culturally alive. Visibility is power. The internet rewards those who stay in the conversation.

Creators Are Trading Privacy for Relevance

The biggest cultural cost of story living is the loss of privacy. People used to protect private experiences. Today, they volunteer intimate details because the system teaches them that exposure equals engagement. Earlier, communities used shame as a social filter. Certain things were kept private because dignity required it. In a digital society, shame collapses. The internet rewards emotional exposure. People now fear invisibility more than embarrassment.

This has changed how individuals behave. They are no longer performing for society. They are performing for algorithms.

OnlyFans, Dating Apps, and Social Media: Different Platforms, Same Logic

These platforms exist for different purposes but they follow the same architecture. They convert individuals into searchable, monetizable profiles. OnlyFans converts intimacy into a digital service. Dating apps convert personality into a catalogue. Social media converts daily life into a visual product. All of them reinforce the same message. Human beings are products in a competition for attention.

What AI Will Do to the Future of Identity in India

This is the part that will reshape everything.

AI will not stop at assisting creators. It will multiply them.

What is coming next:

1. AI will generate scalable digital versions of influencers. Creators will sell access to voice clones, AI versions of themselves, and digital doubles.

2. AI companions will convert emotional labour into paid interaction, feelings can become a subscription.

3. AI will track audience responses to build personality analytics. Creators will know which traits work best for engagement. Life will be optimized for performance.

4. AI will script, schedule, polish, and distribute content automatically creator becomes a face. AI becomes the machinery behind the face.

Identity will no longer be a single self. It will become a portfolio of digital assets.

And India is right at the centre of this shift.

Where Does This Leave Us

Bollywood, creators, influencers, and entrepreneurs now operate inside one cultural superstructure. Story living has become the default mode for anyone who wants recognition. The next question is simple.

Who will control the story of a person in the age of AI?

Will individuals write their own narratives, or will the systems they depend on create those narratives for them?

The future of the Indian creator economy will depend on this answer.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is story living, and why is it becoming popular in India?

Story living is the practice of performing daily life online for public attention. It is rising in India because social media rewards visibility, and creators gain opportunities through constant engagement.

2. How do influencers like Uorfi Javed and Orhan Awatramani fit into the idea of story living?

They represent the new model of celebrity where personal identity becomes content. Their lifestyle, fashion, and public appearances are consumed as ongoing narratives.

3. Why are film producers entering the influencer space?

Producers gain recall value and cultural relevance by staying visible online. Public engagement helps strengthen film marketing and personal branding.

4. How does AI affect the creator economy in India?

AI will automate content creation, create digital versions of creators, and optimize their personalities for engagement. This will grow identity into a multi-layered digital asset.

5. Why is privacy becoming less important in the digital age?

People trade privacy for attention and opportunities. Platforms reward exposure, which slowly erodes the old cultural boundaries around shame and dignity.