The Question Nobody Asks: How Shivam Pal and Three Friends Built Matte Aarama? Around Two Simple Words”

Everyone knows the films, the fame and the headlines. What almost nobody asks a star is the simplest question there is: “Matte aarama?” How are you, really?

That question is now the name of a new South Indian celebrity conversation show, and the reason four young founders decided to build something from nothing. One of them is Shivam Pal, the founder of ViralNext Media, a man who has spent his career making other people’s stories impossible to ignore. With Matte Aarama?, he is betting on a different kind of story: the quiet one, the one that happens after the cameras are switched off.

A Show Born From a Feeling, Not a Format

Matte Aarama? did not begin in a studio or a boardroom. It began with a conversation between friends, and with a name and a basic idea from Rachin Shetty, a photographer who had spent years on college campuses capturing other people’s best moments. The founding team took that seed and decided to grow it.

Four founders now carry it: Shivam Pal, Sanjana Ramesh, Raghav and Teju. Sanjana, an anchor and public speaker who first held a mic in Grade 6 and has since hosted more than 100 events, including TEDx stages, is the voice and face of the show. Teju has been chasing crew, auditions and sponsors, and keeping the energy up on the days when it dipped. Raghav completes a group that built the show on trust long before it had a budget.

And Shivam brought what a new show needs most and can rarely afford: a way to be seen.

From Building Pages to Building Something Personal

Through ViralNext Media, Shivam and his team run some of the most-followed pages in Indian digital media, including @trendsofindia, @observingindia, @mostlycinemas, @marketfeeds and @brickbharat. Together, the network reaches millions of people every single day.

For years, that reach was used to amplify brands, trends and headlines. Matte Aarama? is the first time Shivam has put it behind something this personal.

“We are interested to grow in the South,” he told his co-founders in the show’s early days. It was a short message, but it marked a turning point: a media founder from outside the region choosing to invest his time, his network and his heart in South Indian stories, told the South Indian way.

Sanjana’s reply was just as simple: “Invest your time and energy in Matte Aarama. We will grow.”

Starting From Zero, Together

What makes this story moving is not the reach. It is the honesty of the beginning.

When the team sat down to plan, there was no episode, no studio and no sponsor. There was a logo, a WhatsApp group, and a list of costs that read like a reality check: a light, a camera, two lenses, a mic, a few hours of studio rent. Someone typed “reality check” in the chat, and nobody argued.

So they did what first-time founders do. Students on the crew volunteered between college exams. A friend offered to edit. A local community page, Namma Bengaluru Connect, agreed to collaborate. The team made plans to visit their old campus with a box of sweets to say thank you. Every small “yes” felt enormous, because it was.

Through all of it, Shivam held one line firmly. When someone suggested promising sponsors a return on their money, he stopped it immediately: “We never promise ROI. We are only giving PR, not investment schemes.” It is a small moment, but it says a lot about the kind of show he wants to build: one where trust comes before revenue, with guests, with brands and with the audience.

The Show That Asks About the Person, Not the Release

Matte Aarama? is not a promotional interview. There is no “what is your next film?” Instead, every conversation is built around the things that shape a person: love, loss, hope, regret, belonging, ambition, self and joy.

Guests agree on topics beforehand. Nothing is a “gotcha”. Their teams preview the final cut before release. The aim is a warm, unhurried conversation in which a celebrity can, perhaps for the first time in a long while, answer the question honestly.

“Everyone asks our stars about their box office and their headlines,” the team wrote in one of its first invitations. “Almost nobody stops to ask how they are.”

Just the Beginning

The first episode of Matte Aarama? goes live on 11 October 2026, with promotional reels in the days before it, all hosted on a single page that will carry both celebrity conversations and the stories of everyday people.

For Shivam, the goal was never just to launch another channel. It was to build, with three friends who believed in the same question, a place where stories could be honest.

“This is just the beginning,” Sanjana wrote to the crew on the night the team came together. “Let’s build something we can all be proud of.”

Four founders. A small, volunteer crew. One question.

Matte aarama?

Beyond the spotlight. Beyond the story. Just you. 📩 social@matteaarama.com · Instagram: @mattearaa