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Ritvi Shah’s festive content thrive on careful prep and a dash of instinct

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Piyush Singh
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In a conversation with us, Ritvi Shah reveals how she balances last-minute ideas with meticulous prep to create her standout Navratri content

Navratri is unmistakably the season of lights, music, and of course, garba. And just like real life, it is also the time when social media feeds get a full festive makeover. While everyone celebrates in their own way, some creators do it so well that their content becomes inseparable from the festival itself. Think of Navratri, and you instantly think of their posts. Some make you want to dance, some make you swoon, some come through with a last-minute creative spark, and some leave you wondering how they manage to pull off such effortless creativity year after year. Fashion and lifestyle influnencer, Ritvi Shah, firmly belongs to this category of creators. Her Navratri content is part storytelling, fashion, celebration, and most importantly, unmistakably her.

Anyone following her content may have always wondered what goes on behind Ritvi’s creative process and how she manages her content calendar, especially during Navratri. To learn more about her process, we sat down with her to talk about everything that goes behind her festive content. From what inspires her, to how she balances to planning while facing the pressure of coming up with fresh ideas every year, we get a glimpse of the effort behind the content that her audience has come to eagerly anticipate.

Also Read: Also Read: What gives a fabric its timeless allure? Kinnari Jain explores the legacy of India’s iconic textiles

Here is what she shared: 

How do you start planning your Navratri content each year? Do you have a timeline or does inspiration strike spontaneously?

As much as I keep telling myself that I want to start planning early, make schedules, line up ideas, maybe think at least a month in advance, the truth is I’m far more of a spontaneous creator. Some amount of planning is nice, but a lot of my best content has come to me in the most unexpected, last-minute ways.

Take Navratri for example. In 2023, Sarthak and I made the Lahu Munh Lag Gaya edit, and that idea struck while I was casually scrolling through Bollywood Navratri music. I stumbled upon the original video, watched it again, and thought, “What if I recreate this with my own twist?” Last year, we shot the Oh Meri Laila edit, which turned into a full-on storyline. I’d heard that song a million times, but one day while doing my makeup, I really listened to the lyrics. Suddenly, the visuals started playing in my head like a boy and a girl crashing into each other in a market, accidentally swapping their belongings, then searching for each other until they finally meet again. When they turn around, we transition them into a garba ground where they dance together before snapping back to reality, almost like a fleeting dream that hints they might be meant for something more.

That entire concept unfolded in my mind in that one moment, just because I happened to listen closely. Inspiration isn’t one single thing for me. It can come from something I see, read, or hear. All it takes is that spark, one tiny trigger, and suddenly a whole content piece starts building itself.

How does it feel when Navratri season kicks in and you start planning all the content? Is it exciting, overwhelming, or a mix of both?

When Navratri season kicks in, it always brings a mix of overwhelming and exciting feelings. There’s this pressure now, because somehow I’ve accidentally created a space where people think of Navratri and immediately think of me. And honestly, I love that. I want to say it just happened by chance, but I’m so happy it did because I love Navratri so much. To be associated with it feels like a dream.

That said, the last two years I put a lot of pressure on myself to outdo the previous year. Somewhere along the way, I realized I was taking the fun out of creating. Now I’m more relaxed than overwhelmed. Of course, there are moments when I feel like I haven’t posted something big or grand, but I remind myself that the whole point of Navratri content is to stay true to how I feel in the moment.

Because Navratri means so much to me, whatever I share has to be something I genuinely love first. And I know the audience will embrace it too, because they’ve always been so kind and supportive. So yes, it’s a mix of both excitement and pressure, but mostly, it’s pure excitement.

Can you walk us through your Navratri content calendar? How far in advance do you map it out?

The Navratri content calendar is always hectic for us because of my series Navratri Nights with Ritvi. It started off as a happy accident, but the audience loved it so much that I decided to make it an annual tradition for as many years as I can. The idea is to upload a video every single day of Navratri like day one, day two, all the way through day nine.

To make that happen, we usually start planning at least ten days in advance so I know exactly what to film during the festival. A typical day goes something like this: on day one, we start filming around 6 p.m., wrap up by 8 or 9 p.m., head straight to garba, and I usually get back home around 4 a.m. Sometimes I grab a quick nap before editing and posting the video, and other times I dive straight into editing as soon as I get home if I know I won’t have time the next day. This cycle repeats every night for nine days.

It’s definitely exhausting, especially when we have branded collaborations happening at the same time. That’s why I work only with brands I genuinely love and who understand my style of working. When they’re flexible and supportive, it makes a huge difference. Despite all the chaos, we do our best to stay ahead, but things can still go haywire. There are nights when I’m too tired and miss a day, but the audience has always been incredibly understanding. Last year, I managed to post every single day without missing one, and I’m hoping to keep that streak going this year too.

When it comes to mixing skits, hacks, and outfits, how do you decide the sequence or balance for your feed?

For Navratri, I end up doing so many different things like creative edits, hacks, outfits, and of course the Navratri Nights series. When it comes to posting, I try not to overthink it. The whole point of filming during Navratri is to show the audience how I experience it: how I dress up, how I hang out with friends, and how we dance garba. It is all from my perspective, so I like to keep it as real, authentic, and organic as possible.

I do not plan too much, but I make sure not to overwhelm people. I avoid posting three or four videos a day. Instead, I try to balance things out. One day I might share an outfit post, the next day a video of the same outfit, and the following day something more neutral like just stories so the audience gets a little breather.

Once Navratri actually starts, I go all out. My audience and I have this unspoken understanding that during those nine days it is going to be a content feast. They know I am going to post a lot, and I love that they are just as excited and ready for it as I am.

How much of your content is pre-planned versus spontaneous shoots or trends you notice in real time?

I think most of my content is a mix of pre-planned and spontaneous, and it is so difficult to explain how that balance works. I try not to follow trends anymore because they disappear so quickly. That is why I either create my own trend or come up with a creative edit. If I do decide to hop on a trend, I make sure to execute it within about ten days of the idea coming to me, because trends can fade in a week.

When it comes to pre-planning, I like to start at least three or four days in advance. If I have a shoot, I plan it for at least two to three days, figuring out the outfits, location, videographer, lights, and setup. There is so much technical work that goes into some of my creative edits that most people never see.

At the same time, I like to leave room for spontaneity while filming. I avoid overplanning shots, and instead I direct on the spot based on what feels right in the moment. Most of the time, those decisions turn out even better than expected. This balance of planning and improvisation is what keeps my content fresh and exciting for me.

What’s the biggest challenge in creating engaging festive content consistently and also standing out with it? 

The biggest challenge for me is trying to outdo last year’s content, because everyone expects something fresh and engaging every time. And sometimes that is just not possible. The hardest part is reminding myself that it is okay. It is okay if one year I do not have a big creative idea and the next year I have plenty. It is okay to be honest with myself and with my audience. It is okay to let myself breathe and simply enjoy the process.

 I actually learned this in 2023, which was one of my best content years for Navratri in terms of collaborations. But I remember being miserable while filming many of those projects because I was so stressed about getting everything perfect that I forgot to enjoy it. Here is a little insider story: during the shoot of Lahu Munh Lag Gaya with Sarthak in 2023, I had a complete mental breakdown in the middle of the night. We had been filming the whole day, and by one or two in the morning I was exhausted and in tears. Looking back now, I realize I did not need to push myself that hard or sacrifice my health for a video, even though the final result turned out great.

 That experience taught me that the real challenge is taking care of yourself while creating content. If something does not feel right this year, it is perfectly fine to wait and try it next year. The audience can wait. Your health cannot. The most important lesson I have learned is to enjoy the process of creating Navratri content and stay true to myself. Now I am more relaxed and real with whatever I film, and I think the audience feels that energy and loves it just as much.

What’s the most fun or memorable moment you’ve had while shooting a Navratri reel or skit?

I think the most memorable and fun shoot for me was the Oh Meri Laila video with Sarthak that we did in 2024. Originally, I had planned to film it in three parts over three different days so I could take it slow, have time to breathe, and edit at my own pace. But just before Navratri, I was admitted to the hospital with dengue, which meant I could not shoot anything in advance. I was already stressed about missing out on Navratri content, but I had this idea in my mind and really wanted to bring it to life.

The day before Navratri began, I spoke to Sarthak and he was completely on board. That morning we went to the market and shot the first half. We came back home around two in the afternoon, ate lunch, and then returned to the market to capture the next set of scenes. After that, we rushed back, changed into Navratri outfits, somehow managed to find a venue that was hosting a pre-Navratri garba night, and filmed the garba sequence there. We wrapped up around 1 a.m. and I immediately started editing at 2 a.m. I worked through the night, finished the first cut by 6 a.m., slept for a bit, and was back out at 10 a.m. to film one last shot that I had missed. We wrapped that by 11 a.m., I returned home at noon, added the shot to the edit, and finally completed the video by around 2 or 3 p.m. I posted it at 4 p.m. on the first day of Navratri, exactly as I had hoped.

What was supposed to be a three-day shoot with time for editing turned into a one-day marathon of shooting and post-production. It was absolutely crazy, but somehow we pulled it off. It was just me, Sarthak, and my videographer Harsh (my dream team) and we made it happen. The video did so well and the audience loved it, which made all the chaos completely worth it.

Is there a particular type of Navratri content you love creating the most, and why?

The type of Navratri content I love creating the most are the creative edits because those ideas come to me so rarely and so spontaneously. An idea will just pop into my head out of nowhere, and when it finally comes to life exactly how I imagined it or even better, that feeling is unmatched. It is so satisfying and it reminds me why I love making these videos.

Very close to that is my Navratri Nights with Ritvi series. Through that, I get to share the behind-the-scenes of my life during the festival, how I get ready, what we do, the garba we play, and even what we eat afterwards. It feels so real and authentic, and it lets my audience experience Navratri with me.

Both kinds of content are my absolute favorites during the season. The creative edits let me explore my imagination, and the Navratri Nights series lets me share the heart of my Navratri in the most personal way.

What approach would you try in your own festive content? Share with us in the comments below! 

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