Somy Ali has never been one to hold back when speaking about the darker side of celebrity culture. From fame and social media pressure to the way success is measured today, Somy has questioned the growing importance given to visibility, followers and public approval. In a candid conversation, she opened up about why she values peace of mind over fame and why she believes celebrity status should never be mistaken for character.
Talking about what she finds most overrated about celebrity culture, Somy said, “Access. People treat proximity to a famous face like a sacrament. I have watched rooms rearrange themselves for a man who could not sit with the truth of what he did when the cameras left.”
She added, “Celebrity is not character. It is lighting. The most overrated thing in that culture is the idea that if enough people clap, the harm did not happen.”
Somy, who founded No More Tears, an organisation working with survivors of abuse, believes applause and fame mean little when compared with the real problems people face. “I built No More Tears because applause does not set a broken bone and a red carpet does not make a decent human being,” she said. According to Somy, celebrities today also face immense pressure to constantly remain visible. She feels that the meaning of relevance has changed, with social media now playing a major role in deciding who stays in the public conversation.
“Yes. And it is a trap they walk into with their eyes open,” she said. “Relevance used to mean the work. Now it means you did not disappear from a grid for forty-eight hours. That is not art. That is a leash.”
Reflecting on her own journey, Somy said, “I left an industry that told women their face was a lease. I will not spend my life refreshing a count to prove I still exist.” For Somy, real relevance has nothing to do with followers or online visibility. “The survivors I sit with do not ask me how many followers I have. They ask if I will still be there in the morning. That is relevance,” she said.
When asked to choose between fame, financial success and peace of mind, Somy did not hesitate. “Peace of mind,” she said. “I have had the other two in pieces and I have watched what they cost.”
She also spoke candidly about the personal price she believes fame can come with. “Fame asked me to lie for a man I loved. I did it. I regret it. Money without peace is just a nicer room to not sleep in,” she said.
For her, a meaningful life is one where she can make a difference to someone rather than simply enjoy the trappings of celebrity. “If I am useful to one woman who was told to stay quiet, that is a richer life than any premiere I was ever walked into,” Somy added.
Somy also questioned the growing trend of celebrities documenting almost every aspect of their lives on social media. She does not see constant posting as genuine intimacy.
“It is not intimacy. It is inventory. You are selling the idea of access while locking the real door,” she said.
She believes that when personal experiences become content, even deeply private moments can end up being consumed by an audience before people have had the chance to process them. “I have seen what happens when a life becomes content: the child, the bruise, the apology, the vacation, all of it packaged before the wound has closed,” Somy said.
“Some things are holy because they are not posted,” she added.
Somy is equally critical of the importance given to followers, views and viral moments when measuring success. “It has become a slot machine. Pull the lever, count the noise, call it a career,” she said.
“Views are not a verdict. Followers are not a character reference,” Somy added.
Instead, she measures success through the impact a person has on someone else’s life. “I measure a day by whether someone got out of an abusive relationship. Not by whether the algorithm was kind to my face,” she said.
Asked about a trend in Bollywood and social media culture that she cannot understand, Somy pointed towards what she sees as the glorification of public figures despite serious allegations or controversies surrounding them.
“The moralist on television who has a criminal file and a talk-show chair,” she said. “We put men on pedestals who should have been in a witness box, then we ask them to lecture the country about values between commercials.”
Somy also questioned why society often remembers celebrities while forgetting ordinary people involved in incidents that receive widespread attention.
“I cannot understand how a nation celebrates a film star for nothing accomplished and cannot name the man who was asleep on a cot,” she said, going on to name Nurullah Sharif and Police Constable Ravindra Patil.
“Celebrity culture taught us to forget these names first. That trend I will never understand, and I will not bless it,” she added.
Having experienced the entertainment industry herself, Somy also has a strong message about the misconceptions surrounding women in the industry, particularly the idea that a woman somehow becomes responsible for what happens to her because of the choices she makes.
“That we asked for it. The clothes. The set. The boyfriend. The silence after,” she said.
“People still talk as if a woman who walked onto a soundstage signed a waiver for whatever happened in the car afterward,” Somy added.
She believes women should not be judged for staying in difficult situations or for taking time to speak about their experiences.
“Women in this industry are not props who later became ungrateful. We are witnesses,” Somy said. “Stop asking us why we stayed long enough to see it. Start asking who designed the room so leaving looked like betrayal.”
