'Men need spaces to open up and be vulnerable': How Nikhil Taneja's chat show redefines modern masculinity

At the tender age of seven, a child disheartened by his drawings consistently missing the editor’s pick in a kids’ magazine, overshadowed by his younger brother’s successful attempts, now stands as an inspiring figure for an entire generational cohort in a country with the largest population in the world. Nikhil Taneja, a multifaceted media personality, has left a significant imprint on the Indian media and content creation landscape, particularly in his efforts to uplift India’s youth through his social advocacy platform, Yuvaa. However, his story began in 1993 when he migrated to the Middle East.

Growing up in Dubai and Bahrain, the Middle East of Nikhil’s childhood was a tapestry of simplicity and discovery, starkly different from the bustling landscape of unfettered growth and development we see today. Coincidentally, the genesis of Nikhil’s creative journey can be traced back to the pages of Young Times (YT), one of Khaleej Times’ oldest magazine titles, which served as a beacon of inspiration to the seven-year-old amidst the cultural mosaic of the 90s Middle East. “This feel’s like a full-circle moment,” Nikhil reminisces, his eyes brimming with nostalgia.

“Looking back, I see how starting with YT has had a big impact on my life. From a young age, I loved conjuring up stories and YT gave me that initial encouragement and boost, instilling a great sense of self-belief in me at an early age,” says the mental health advocate, who at age 14, became the Bahrain correspondent for the magazine, which had a Middle-East-wide circulation at the time.

“Writing, from a young age, became a medium for me to express myself—the most personal way for me to convey my thoughts because boys aren’t traditionally as expressive, and are conditioned not to be,” he adds.

Battle with anxiety

Now, a filmmaker, writer, and producer wearing many hats, but above all, Nikhil identifies as a storyteller. Having worked with Yash Raj Films, India’s leading production house, Nikhil spearheaded some of the digital space’s biggest hits at Y-Films, the youth wing of YRF, enjoying immense career success. When he turned 30, one might have assumed he had conquered everything as a highly successful young producer. However, his life turned upside down when he was diagnosed with clinical anxiety, a condition that came as a wake-up call in his life, as he struggled to comprehend its root cause.

“It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever faced in my life,” he says. “My anxiety was clinical, meaning I literally had to quit my job to take care of my mental health. I took a six-month sabbatical from work and my career because I needed to get better.”

Through the course of his therapy sessions, Nikhil began to understand that much of his anxiety stemmed from the societal expectations linked to his gender conditioning and from him trying to be the ‘ideal’ man. “From a young age, I believed I had to achieve certain milestones by the time I was 30: earn a certain amount of money, hold a specific job title, own a house and a car, and be a certain type of person. I accomplished all of this, but once I did, I found myself asking, “Now what?” The answer seemed to be to do more—keep reaching for new milestones.”

The battle with anxiety led him to unpack these beliefs that he had inherited from society and create a new story for his life. “The goalposts always keep shifting. I needed to find my own story beyond the societal expectations of being a good son, husband, and brother,” he says. “During my struggle with clinical anxiety, I tried to figure out what I really wanted to do in my life. I knew I was good at writing, producing, and creating entertainment, but what I genuinely cared about was helping young people and creating safe spaces for them. This led to the creation of Yuvaa.”

Birth of Yuvaa

Overtime, Yuvaa has become India’s foremost platform dedicated to listening to and engaging with young people, and making important topics, such as mental health, gender, Internet safety, misinformation, and climate change, engaging and accessible to them. “It became clear that my mission was to create a platform that listens to young people and makes important things interesting and accessible for them.”

For Yuvaa, having offline conversations has always been crucial, he mentions. “We started the Yuvaa roadshow, where we travelled to 110 colleges in a year, across 34 cities. We created listening spaces where young people could express themselves without judgement.”