From Jabb Zodiacs Met to the psychological thriller The Lift, Ishika Shahi is carving out her own space in digital storytelling—one experiment, one genre and one audience at a time. In an exclusive conversation with The Mauve, she opens up about creative instinct, growing up around the entertainment industry and the kind of storyteller she hopes to become.

There is a particular kind of freedom in being new to something you have grown up around. You recognise the rhythms, understand the vocabulary and have spent years watching the people who make it happen. And yet, when it is finally your turn to create, familiarity does not necessarily translate into certainty.

For Ishika Shahi, that is where the real story begins.

Working across the YouTube channel of Directors Kut Productions, Ishika is building a body of work that moves between formats, genres and moods. From Jabb Zodiacs Met and Heer Sharma Gayi to Tu Ya Koi Nahi and her latest offering, The Lift, her projects reflect a willingness to explore different storytelling possibilities rather than settle into a single creative identity.

Having grown up in the entertainment ecosystem, she has had a close-up view of the craft. But making her own creative decisions has brought a different perspective to that experience. The process, she admits, is still very much about learning—about understanding her instincts, recognising what resonates and discovering the stories she wants to tell.

“I feel like I’m still learning,” she says. “Because I’ve grown up around this ecosystem and now that I’m making my own choices, I feel like I’m still learning. So, I don’t really trust my instincts too much right now. I like to trust my dad’s instincts because I feel like they pay off really well. He has the experience, so I want to listen to him right now.”

There is something refreshing about that admission. In an industry where creative confidence is often part of the performance, Ishika is willing to acknowledge that finding one’s voice can begin with listening to someone else’s.

For now, experience remains an important compass. But the journey towards developing her own creative instinct is already underway.

The Art of Finding Your Own Voice

For a new generation of storytellers, YouTube offers a space where conventional genre boundaries can feel less rigid and audience relationships can develop in real time. It is a landscape that rewards experimentation, but also demands an understanding of what keeps viewers coming back.

Ishika’s approach is rooted in the belief that authenticity must come before the pursuit of a trend. Rather than designing stories around what is already popular, she wants to create work that feels true to the people making it—and allow audiences to discover it along the way.

“We just want to be authentic with the kind of shows we make and keep creating, hoping that our audience finds their way to us and we find our way to them,” she shares.

She sees a similar philosophy in her father’s approach to the medium: a willingness to create the shows he believes in, without losing sight of the audience. It is a principle she hopes to carry into her own work.

“I think that’s what my dad has always been doing as well—creating shows that he believes in. That’s the same thing I want to do.”

The distinction matters. Finding a voice is not simply about identifying a recognisable style; it is about developing the conviction to pursue a creative idea while remaining open to how it is received. For Ishika, that balance between personal instinct and audience connection is still taking shape.

From Familiar Formats to the Unknown

The range of Ishika’s projects suggests an interest in exploring the many ways a story can be told. While each show inhabits its own creative space, together they represent a willingness to move beyond the comfort of a single format.

Her recent psychological thriller, The Lift, marks another step in that exploration. A shift into a genre driven by suspense and psychological tension, it reflects the possibilities of experimenting with different storytelling moods on a digital platform.

But experimentation also brings a practical question: how do you know which stories deserve to be pursued further?

For Ishika, the answer lies partly in paying attention to audience engagement. While she remains committed to making authentic work, she is equally conscious that a growing digital platform requires an understanding of what viewers connect with.

“I want to create what my audience is engaging with more,” she says.

It is not necessarily a contradiction. Creative conviction and audience awareness can coexist, with the latter offering insight into how stories travel, which formats invite participation and where viewers find themselves most invested.

The challenge is to use that understanding without allowing it to dictate every creative decision.

Building an Audience That Believes in the Storyteller

Every storyteller hopes to find an audience. Ishika’s ambition, however, extends beyond the immediate success of an individual show. She wants to build a relationship in which viewers are willing to follow her into unfamiliar territory, trusting the sensibility behind the story even when the genre changes.

It is an aspiration that places long-term audience loyalty above the appeal of a single hit.

“I want them to trust every show I put out, no matter what genre it is,” she says. “Having that kind of loyal audience would make me feel like I’ve definitely achieved success.”

In that statement lies a more enduring definition of creative success. Not simply the ability to make something people watch, but the ability to cultivate a connection strong enough for them to return—whether the next story is familiar, unexpected, light-hearted or psychologically complex.

For a storyteller still discovering her own creative instincts, that kind of trust cannot be manufactured overnight. It is built through consistency, curiosity and the willingness to keep creating.

Ishika Shahi is at the beginning of that process, learning from experience while testing the boundaries of her own imagination. Her voice may still be evolving, but the ambition behind it is clear: to make stories that audiences do not simply discover, but believe in.