They won’t rent me a house? I’ll buy one: Uorfi Javed will not be slut-shamed into poverty in India

Indian actor and social media sensation Uorfi Javed may have thousands of haters but she also has four million Instagram followers — and then some. The ‘influencer’, as Gen-Z would put it, has zero qualms about what people think of her either and does not believe in conforming to society’s standards for women. Now, in an interaction with The Dirty Magazine’s Aishwarya Subramanyam, she has detailed why she does, what she does, and why no one has the right to slut-shame her.

The DIY queen started off by revealing why she added an ‘o’ to her name. “It was a numerologist’s suggestion. I am not a big believer in this stuff,” she clarified, but the trick seemed to have worked for her. Popular Insta sensation Diet Sabya also said about Uorfi, “When she started wearing copies of designer clothes, we called her out on it. She messaged us and said she didn’t have money, she didn’t have access, she didn’t have anyone giving her clothes. So, she DIYed everything she wore. That’s what changed things. The more we watched her, the more we liked her. She’s pure guts. No holds barred. Loves couture, loves fashion. And is clearly obsessed with making her mark”

As Uorfi grew on people, she also came to learn why she couldn’t keep ripping off designers. Especially not after her unhinged, controversial ways had gotten her the financial stability she so desperately sought. “I’m from a small town, we would see clothes in movies and ask our tailors to copy them because we didn’t have money to buy the original. It was very normal to do. In fact, it was seen as a good thing,” she reflected. “Now I can actually afford designer clothes so I buy them — I bought Mugler,” declared a proud Uorfi.

Between bites of strawberry and chocolate cake, courtesy of her addiction to sugar, Uorfi discussed the itsy-bitsy details of all designer outfits she likes or dislikes. She also told the outlet why she feels no shame dealing in the most vilified currency of all time – attention. “I didn’t get any attention when I was young, so now I want it from the whole world. This is childhood trauma,” she confessed. “Who doesn’t want attention, Aishwarya? Look at this industry, which actor doesn’t want attention? Why so many PR gimmicks for every film promotion? Why do you want to get into this industry if you don’t want attention? You want to act na, so do theatre? Why do you want to become a movie star? In this industry, the more recognised or popular you are, the more work you get. And the truth is, everyone wants attention. At least I’m open about it,” maintained Uorfi.

Aishwarya noted that Uorfi’s apartment was “bursting at the seams,” and she needed to move but being a single Muslim woman in India didn’t make that any easy. “Now I will buy a house,” she said, “You won’t rent to me, fine, I will buy.”

As per the feature, Uorfi grew up in a strict, conservative family in Lucknow, and was the second of 5 kids. She had a very difficult relationship with her father, who was verbally and physically abusive. “He used to beat us a lot. He’d beat my mother too. Someone calling you a [slut] every day f*cks you up. I also attempted suicide a couple of times,” she revealed casually, showing the scars on her wrist. Once, Uorfi even drank phenyl and had to be taken to hospital.

“I barely left the house; my father wouldn't allow it. But I used to watch a lot of TV, and I was always interested in fashion. I didn’t have a lot of fashion knowledge, but I knew what I wanted to wear. I wanted to look different, I wanted to look the best. Like when I go to a party, everyone turns to look at me,” she added. With limited resources, Uorfi resorted to cutting up T-shirts to making tube tops.

When she was 15, a picture of her made it to a porn site. It was a dark time for her, everyone around began calling her a wh*re so she decided, “Oh, you think I’m a wh*re? Fine, watch me be one.” Uorfi ran away from home when she was 17 alongside two of her sisters. For a year they lived like nomads in Delhi, doing anything they could to get by. Eventually, Uorfi landed in Bombay and began auditioning for acting roles.

“For TV they don’t care so much about acting, they saw my face and gave me roles. But I was a bad actor. I didn’t know how to move, what to do with my hands. So I never got good work… TV didn’t do much for me.” What it did for her, though, was carve her personality. Uorfi came out of her shell, became outspoken and well acquainted with cussing. She started going on reality shows and the media finally began showing interest in her.‍ “What people see, sells. And I will show them what they want to see. It’s not like I went nude, what are you so upset about? I haven’t even sexualised my body the way people do. But I am capitalising on the sexualisation.” ‍

She added, “I want fame. I want money. I see myself becoming an entrepreneur. A boss with lots of people working for me.” Uorfi already has a team of tailors, a designer, a car, a driver and a bodyguard because men can get rowdy with her. She also has the paparazzi following her everywhere.

“All my life I’ve been upset and stressed about money. I never had any. I really think instead of running after a man, girls should run after money. It isn’t everything but it is a lot of things. And anyway, it is better to have rich people problems than poor people problems. I just want to tell young people: Do what you want, don’t listen to your parents and don’t attempt suicide. There’s no point. You will eventually die. Wait for it,” she concluded.

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