Apoorva Mukhija hits back at IIT grad’s viral rant on her 41 crore empire: 'Salty men are my favourite genre'

Apoorva Mukhija, a 24-year-old content creator known for her online persona "Kaleshi Aurat," recently responded to a post that questioned her reported earnings and success as an influencer. The post, shared by an engineer on platform X (formerly Twitter), compared his academic journey to her career in digital content and sparked a wave of online debate.

The engineer, who introduced himself as an IIT graduate, wrote about studying for years to crack one of the toughest engineering exams in India and completing a six-year academic journey. He expressed frustration that despite his efforts, he remained largely unknown, while, in his words, someone creating reels and using bold content had reportedly built a ?41 crore business.

His post read: Studied 14 hrs a day to crack India’s toughest engineering exam… got into IIT… fought for 4+2 years… Today? Not even 100 people know me. Meanwhile... reels, red lipstick, semi nudes and abusing openly… can make Rs 41 crore empire. World’s truly fair.

The post referenced recent viral reports claiming that Apoorva earns over ?2.5 lakh per day through brand deals and collaborations, and that her overall net worth stands at ?41 crore. These figures were widely circulated but have not been independently confirmed by the influencer. In response, Apoorva took to her Instagram Stories. She reshared the post and wrote: Salty men are my favourite genre.

In a follow-up story, she writes: Galat hai bhai????

The incident led to mixed reactions across platforms. Some users sided with the engineer, pointing to what they saw as an imbalance between hard-earned academic careers and the rising popularity of social media influencers. Others defended Apoorva, noting that content creation is a form of work in itself and requires creativity, consistency, and a strong connection with audiences.

The discussion brought attention once again to the growing influence of digital creators in India and the evolving definitions of success in the age of social media. Apoorva, who continues to post comedy and lifestyle content online, has not commented further on the figures or the controversy.