Rhythm Chanana goes missing on Instagram! Where is the viral Delhi Metro girl?
Rhythm Chanana's Instagram account got banned and ever since then, she has been off social media. DNA reached out to her again, after our last conversation with her, and got updates on her life.
A month ago, Delhi metro girl Rhythm Chanana rose to fame overnight after some videos and images of her 'bold’ outfit choices went viral as she travelled in the metro. She soon became famous as the viral "Delhi Metro Girl." The Punjab-born 19-year-old was in Delhi for an acting course as she dreams of becoming an actor. She began donning these clothes in November 2022 and switched to this style entirely. She has gained a great deal of fame as a result. Her Instagram following, which she initially had around 150 of, suddenly increased and shot up to almost 40,000 followers. A lot of fake accounts started appearing on the platform with almost similar names. Some accounts had more followers than her actual account.
(Screenshot shared by Rhythm Chanana)
But then something unfortunate happened. Instagram took her account down. She had almost 130 posts on her previous account (prettypastry11112222). She posted about her new Instagram account on her WhatsApp story which is itsprettypastry11112222. DNA reached out to Rhythm again to find out how her life has been since it has been over a month of her going viral.
As we began the interview, there was something shocking to notice. Rhythm, who was famous for wearing bold outfits, was wearing a yellow saree with a black blouse. She took a turnaround on her style this time. Upon being asked about the change in the outfit, she initially said that I want the people to guess and assume what this was all about. We insisted and then she said, “Ab sabne mujhe mere unn clothes mein dekha hi hai, ab mai agar same kapde daalungi toh koi interest nahi hoga. Change is important!” (Everyone has seen me wearing those outfits but now if I wear the same clothes over and over, no one would be interested to watch it.)
We asked Rhythm about the reactions and problems she has been facing with her family, relatives and people around her. The answer was a little shocking as compared to what she said the last time we spoke to her. Previously, she told us that her family was supportive and didn’t say much. But this time, she said, “Mujhe mummy ne kaha ki dobara ghar pe mat aana kabhi (My mom asked me never to come back to the house) because my relatives called and asked about me. And when they did, they said a lot of negative things about me. But that is okay. I think I just need to give them some time.” She also mentioned that she has been facing some threats, both in-person and online.
Rhythm also revealed that she was in Delhi for a few days after she got viral. And during that time, she was travelling by the metro and was stopped, thanks to DMRC, and wasn’t allowed to enter. After making her wait for half an hour, she was taken to the control room. The security staff asked her for her details like name, phone number, Aadhar number, permanent address and her current address (her Delhi address). She contemplated giving her Delhi address because she did not want to create a mess in her rental house. But the police and security from DMRC showed up at her house. The house owners said, “Hume yahan rehete hue itne saal ho gaye aur aaj tak police nahi aayi, tumhare ko 6 mahine hue hai aur yahan police aa gayi (We have been living here for years and we never had to face a situation where the police showed up to our house and you have been living here for six months and look at the situation now).” After insisting her landlords to let her stay for 3-4 days, they agreed. She said, “Maine koi crime toh kiya nahi tha ki who mera number bhi le rahe hai, address bhi le rahe hai (It's not like I committed a crime that they were asking for all my details).”
Rhythm was very distressed as after gaining a great number of followers within a week, she started getting a lot of brand collaboration and acting offers. Opposed to what she had previously told DNA, her getting viral had almost become a kick-start to her career. But during the third week of April, she lost her Instagram account as Instagram suspended it. “Mujhe bohot bura laga jab Instagram ka who notification aaya (I felt really bad when I got notified by Instagram that my account was being taken down.)” Rhythm told us that she tried reaching out to Instagram in multiple ways, but nothing really worked out. She said that the only thing that she majorly lost was the work offers that she got because the pictures and videos that she had posted on her account were all backed up in her phone.
She then talks about her future plans and says, “When it comes to Instagram, I have already made a new account and I posted an outfit’s pictures too but then I started getting comments like ‘Agar yeh ID bhi ban ho gayi toh tum nayi ID kitni baar banaogi (If this ID gets banned too, how many Instagram accounts do you plan to make?)’ And this got me to thinking if working on this ID would help me out in any way or if this will all go down the drain once again.”
“Urfi Javed ki ID kabhi ban nahi hui jab ki woh toh mujhse bhi zyada bold posts daalti hai. Aur jo mere fake accounts hai, unki IDs abhi tak ban kyu nahi hui hai? (Urfi Javed’s Insta handle was never banned/taken down even though she wears bolder outfit than me. And what about the fake accounts that have been made in my name? Why haven’t they been taken down yet. I really need to think about all this before I start posting again,” she adds.
Rhythm claims that her face has been ‘established’ out there. People know who she is when she walks out of her house. The question remains whether Rhythm’s career kick-start has taken a step back or will she start posting again, regardless of the hate she receives?
(Read more: Viral Delhi metro girl Rhythm Chanana's female crush, family reaction and more in exclusive DNA interview)