From Nagaland, Andrea Kevichusa Met Her Challenges

Ever so often people earn accolades of the wunderkind, here’s a story of a young girl, Andrea Kevichusa, a Nagaland native, who made headlines with her debut film ‘Anek.’ She comes from Nagaland’s Angami and Ao tribes, and her career in the fashion industry began when she was ‘discovered’at the age of 15.

No stranger to being in front of a camera Andrea’s popularity rose at a young age with her appearing in magazines including Vogue India, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, and Grazia, among others.

In here words:

An agency spotted me in 2016 on Instagram, I was 15 years old at the time. And when they contacted me. I was still a student and lived in Kohima. I simply left it there. They then kind of stayed in touch and started following me on Instagram after that. And I started doing a couple of shots when I became 16 years old. I was contacted by Harper’s Bazaar. Anima Creative Management travelled to Kohima in Nagaland to meet with my family where they described the process. A few months later, I made the decision to move forward. For the first few years, I worked on it concurrently with my studies. It went like this: during my winter and summer breaks, I would relocate to Mumbai, stay there for approximately two weeks, then return to school.

At 18 when I finished high school, I made the decision to take a gap year gap and relocate to Bombay with the idea of making my dream come true. It was also at this time that I was offered the part in Anek.

I didn’t really know many people when I moved to Bombay because there weren’t many Northeastern residents compared to Delhi. So, I had to do everything by myself, although I believe that was a significant hurdle.

The industry did not have a lot of Northeastern models when I initially started. Now the business is considerably more diverse than it was when I first entered it. This includes anything from more plus-size models to more people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. There was still a lot of tokenisms, that you were only there because you were different looking. However, that has changed lately.

People’s stigmatization of the word “Northeast” is nothing new. Of course, some people are ignorant. Children are usually the ones who tease. So, there’s a school nearby where I reside. So, every time I leave my building to go anywhere, I must brace myself. It was the worst when Covid first started. It’s a small child, so you can’t fight back. However, I believe it is better in Mumbai.

Although I believe I am open to acting, modeling will continue to play a significant role in my life. I had a great experience acting, and because I am highly adaptable in my experiences, I am open to anything that arises. Working with someone from the Northeast would be fantastic for me, in my opinion.