The hub of all things digital, Social Nation is on a quest to bring you real stories from the content creation world with its video podcast series- The Social Nation Show. Streaming on Spotify and YouTube, the show is produced by the best in the business, Pod.One. This series highlights India’s top content creators, exploring their personal and professional lives to showcase the best of the Indian creator economy.
Today’s episode happens to be the twenty-second episode in the series. Today also happens to be Halloween. Who would be the perfect fit for this Halloween special episode?
Someone who can bring the right spooky vibes to your feed? Who can narrate the most spine-chilling horror stories in the like it’s second nature to them? Someone who possesses knowledge about various paranormal and scary happenings around the world? The one person who can make even a Monday super interesting? Our guest for today is none other than ace horror storyteller and YouTuber: Divay Agarwal a.k.a. KHOONI MONDAY!!
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Episode 22
In the previous episode, we have dived into the personal and professional lives of some of the top creators in the industry. From the comedy queen Sumukhi Suresh and chulbuli Sakshi Keswani a.k.a. Being Suku, to the relatable Dhiraj Sanap and the Internet’s dancing sensation Shehzaan Khan, we bring the best of the creator industry to you. And this time we have the impactful horror storyteller and content creator ‘Khooni Monday!‘
His horror stories from India and across the world are not for the faint-hearted so read on at your own risk. Divay turned Monday blues into something super intriguing by dropping a video every Monday on his YouTube channel in India. With an intention to narrate horror stories to teenagers and young adults, Divay was the first to adopt the animation route for his horror videos. Let’s know more about him!
The Face Reveal
Divay Agarwal has been producing animated videos on his channel since 2018. He only revealed his face two years ago in November 2022. What made him finally decide to put a face to his voice?
He said, “Pehla reason face reveal na karne ka was ki I was doing a job simultaneously for 3.5 years at Jio Cinema. I was working as a product manager of content, content strategy, etc. Toh mujhe laga ke face reveal karke main faaltu ka attention naa kheenchu office mein ki haan ye yeh sab kar raha hai. Generally mujhe apni job mein bhi bahut maza aata tha. But after a point jab maine job chhod di tab maine socha tha ke haan karenge face reveal, bata denge, log puch rahe hain kaun hai iss awaaz ke peeche, in kahaniyon ke peeche.”
Khooni Monday was doing really well on Spotify Podcasts from April 2022. When Spotify would host or sponsor certain events, they wanted Divay to participate as a speaker.
“Now if I’m speaking in a public forum, then everybody is going to know ke ‘Khooni Monday’ Divya Agarwal hai. Yeh hone laga tha shuru – main forums mein bolne laga that. Fir maine kaha yaar ab agar face reveal aise ho hi raha hai toh ek proper dhang se karte hain face reveal karte hai aur bata dete hain logon ko ke haan Divya Agarwal hai uske peeche aur meri team obviously,” he shared.
SN: Could you share an experience from your childhood that, even as an adult, you still can’t fully explain?
Khooni Monday: Mere ghar ke saamne ek peepal ka ped tha jahan mujhe cheezen dikhti thi. Uss peepal ke ped ke andar kabhi kaali billi, kabhi chamkadar ya kabhi koi saaya dikhta tha. Main aaj bhi main sure nahi hoon ki main hallucinate kar raha tha ya woh sach mein exist karta that.
Ek din hum log dinner kar rahe the apne neighbors ke ghar pe, fir chhat pe jhoola jhool rahe the. Unke parents mana karte the ki mat jhoolo saaya chipak jaata hai, aise unki belief thi ke raat mein nahi jhoolte. Toh jhool rahe the aur unke ghar ki chhat se woh peepal ka ped dikhta hai. Toh main usko dekhe ja raha tha aur achanak se mujhe fir se wahi saaya dikha jo hamesha se dikhta that. Woh saaya aise flashes mein meri taraf aaya. And I still remember jhoole ke left side se chain utar ke neeche gir gayi, jhoola toot ke neeche gir gaya aur main bhi neeche gira.
Jo mera rona chhuta tha, matlab aaj bhi main voh andar se rona imagine karta hoon. Mujhe yaad hai ke main girta hoon aur mummy papa ekdum se aate hain ki kya ho gaya, kahaan chot lag gayi. Unhein lag raha hai main chot ki wajah se ro raha hoon, lekin mujhe pata hai kya darr tha voh. Aur aaj tak main uss cheez ko comprehend nahi kar paata. Kya main hallucinate kar raha tha, koi coincidence that, ya phir sach mein un pedon mein koi that? Abhi woh ped kat gaya hai, thankfully.
The Mukesh Mills Horror Legend
You must have seen the Mukesh Mills location in Bollywood’s iconic movie ‘Om Shanti Om.’ It is the place where they shot the pivotal murder scene of Shanti Priya (played by Deepika Padukone) and the revenge plot after. In the 80s, Mukesh Mills was a bustling textile hub. The mill workers would produce cotton and silk there. One day, the mills caught a huge fire that burned everything to the ground and many workers lost their lives there. It had been shut since then and was later used as a set for horror films.
Divay Agarwal revealed, “Uske baad se log kehne lage ki yahan par logon ki awaazein aati hain, aatmaayein bhatakti hain, kaafi log bhi dikhte hain yahan pe. Bahut saare on-set accidents bhi hue hain jaise light gir jana, crew members ka pagal ho jana. Green room ke sheeshon mein kisi ka dikhna, kahi se jewelry ka milna, etc.“
“Abhi recently main ek podcast kar raha tha Ritesh Deshmukh aur Saqib Saleem ke saath, aur unhone mujhe bataya ke Mukesh Mills mein aag nahi jala sakte, allowed nahi hai. It could agitate the spirits or create destruction. Agar kisi ko cigarette bhi peeni hai toh thoda bahar jaake peena hai. Om Shanti Om ke that is an ideal location I think for that story,” he added.
Furthermore Khooni Monday said, “Ritesh ne ye bhi bataya ki ek area hai Mukesh Mills ka jahan aap jaa hi nahi sakte, aapko allowed nahi hai jana. Uss area ke bagal mein shooting chal rahi hai – 200 dancers dance kar rahe hain, full masti chal rahi hai, aur ek area hai jo bilkul sannata pada hai. Kehte hain woh area haunted hai. Wahan pe hi aag lagi thi.“
A Day In The ‘Khooni Monday’ Office
We asked Divay Agarwal to take us behind the scene of a ‘Khooni Monday’ episode. Read on to know what it takes to create your favourite horror story videos:
“Mumbai mein hamari animation ki team baithti hai aur main Delhi se kaam karta hoon. Toh pehle main kahani likhwata hoon writers ki team ke saath ya khud likhta hoon, fir final story jaati hai Prashant aur Rahul ke paas. Rahul is the Director of Animation jo poora dekhte hain ki kya ban raha hai aur kya nahi ban raha.
Prashant apni soojhboojh ke hisaab se, jo story mein characters hote hain aur background hote hain, uske hisaab se details & characters banayega. Jaise Mukesh Mills ko story hai, toh voh Mukesh Mills banayega, usme cotton mill workers banayega. Jab woh characters ban jaate hain, side by side main voiceover karta hoon. Voiceover jaata hai music ke liye. Itne mein Rahul dekhta hai ki characters aur kahani match kar rahe hai y anahi. He suggests ke shayad yeh wala angle bhi lagega ya yeh frame ya background lagega.
Prashant phir voh bana ke Rahul ko deta hai. Saaji animate karta hai un cheezon ko, jaise aapki lip ka movement hai, aap dar rahe ho, aankhein badi ho rahi hai, chhoti ho rahi hai, haath hil rahe hain idhar se udhar. After the characters are ready, Rahul ke paas sab aa jaata hai.
Music hokar aapki poori kahani aa jaati hai voiceover, animation & background ke saath – matlab Mukesh Mills ka poora setup. Ab Rahul sab kuch jodta hai, hum usse kehte hain ‘comping’ as a process. Toh finally ek video hamari ready hoti hai. Lagbhag chaar paanch din ka khel hai yeh jismein yeh saari cheezen chalti hain.”
HorrorCon 2024
Khooni Monday’s Divay Agarwal, hosted India’s biggest Halloween event ‘HorrorCon‘ at Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium on October 26. The spookiest night of the year offered some spine-chilling live stories from top creators, podcasts that gave goosebumps, real-life experiences from India’s leading Paranormal Investigators, Delhi’s biggest Horror Cosplay competition, and a lot more. It was a total hit with horror lovers flocking to experience this intriguing world.
Where Can You Watch The Social Nation Show?
The Social Nation Show will be available on all leading audio and video platforms on Social Nation’s official channels. The video podcasts will be distributed on Social Nation’s Spotify and YouTube handles, whereas the audio podcasts will also be available on Apple Podcast, JioSaavn, Amazon Music, and Gaana platforms. Catch the best moments of each episode on our Instagram and YouTube Shorts too!
Tell us who would you like to see on the show next in the comments below! Until then follow us on @socialnationnow for more such exciting content! See you again, next week 🙂
