India-wide Release, 15th April 2025: In the heart of bustling Comic Con Mumbai, where cosplayers reigned and comics flew off the shelves, a vibrant salon of It’s A Girl Thing (IAGT) was oozing sass, stories, and also a major main character energy! One of the leading forums for platforming the young women’s voices, IAGT brought sisterhood to Mumbai Comic Con on April 12th and April 13th, 2025, at the Jio World Convention Centre. It was all about nourishing conversations, celebrating passion, challenging stereotypes, and dreams taking the front seat.
For two days, the IAGT salon hosted diverse panels and conversations, providing an intimate space for women to be their authentic selves. The panelists included an eclectic mix of creators, artists, gamers, nutritionists, crafters and unapologetic girl bosses.
Artists like Rytasha Rathore, Priyam Saha, Anasua Chowdhury, Chrisann Pereira, and Maalavika Manoj (Mali) marked their presence. There were some kickass gamers, including Riya Verma (Bachu) and Shakshi Shetty (Sharkshe), with nutritionists like Neha Ranglani, your favourite content creators Sameeksha Takke, Aashi Sahni, and Kinnari Jain, and girl bosses like Aakanksha Gupta – Co-Founder of The Other Circle.
What tied all of them together? Bold storytelling, unabashed honesty, and vulnerability. Each of them presented a unique gaze on the lived realities of women, struggles, and triumphant attempts at carving out niches in male-dominated spaces.
Singer and songwriter Mali highlighted the issue of women facing harsher criticism than their male counterparts during a freewheeling conversation with the Co-founder of The Other Circle, Aakanksha. The girlboss provided an interesting insight into this issue, saying, “No disrespect to the men out there, but a man is allowed to be a man. A woman has to be so many things before she’s allowed to be a woman.” She added, “It’s harder for women. But it’s harder for us because we have to make it easier.”
From L to R: Aakanksha Gupta, Founder & CEO, The Other Circle, and Maalavika Manoj (Mali), Singer & Songwriter for the ‘Shaping Your Future With Your Present Self’ panel.
When women pivoted into areas that were conventionally reserved for men, it was followed with many stereotypes that shadowed the hard work of women. Stereotypes were designed to deter them from progressing, but the women went in with more passion and struck all of them down.
Talking about the stereotypes and criticism that women are subjected to, Shakshi Shetty provided an optimistic point of view during the ‘Girls Got Game: Slaying, Streaming & Staying Real’ panel. Despite the criticism and stereotyping, she had a hopeful outlook. She said, “But, as long as, out of 100, there are two girls out there whom I motivate to follow their passion for gaming, I’m more than happy.”
From L to R: Shakshi Shetty and Riya Verma for ‘Girls Got Game: Slaying, Streaming, And Staying Real’ panel moderated by Nishant Patel, Co-Founder, AFK Gaming
Sameeksha Taake, during the Niche Please! Ruling the Internet One Vibe at a Time panel on the second day, echoed a similar sentiment. While talking of how to find one’s niche when breaking into the content world, the sports content creator talked about how she is prone to stereotypes despite having played cricket professionally for 15 years.
From L to R: Sameeksha Takke, Aashi Sahni, and Kinnari Jain for the ‘Niche Please! Ruling the Internet, One Vibe At A Time’ panel moderated by One Digital Entertainment’s Manisha L.
On the first day, the cast of Waack Girls, a web series by Padma Shri Awardee and National Award-winning scriptwriter Sooni Taraporevala, brought a cinematic high point. The energy was palpable, and when asked about who exactly is a Waack Girl, Taraporevala said, “A Waack Girl is someone who doesn’t take s*** from anyone.”
From L to R: Ruby Shah, Chrisann Pereira, Sooni Taraporevala, Anasua Chowdhury, Rytasha Rathore for the ‘Unapologetically WAACK’ panel.
In between panels, perspectives, and powerhouse talks, nourishment—both physical and emotional—took centre stage on day two. The Nourishing Your Heroine Superpowers session, moderated by IAGT Global’s Melanie Speet, featured Vidhi Doshi (@ramenhairedgirl) and Neha Ranglani (@neharangali_). Neha spoke about how nutrition is foundational to well-being, along with intuitive eating for self healing and the gut being our second brain. Vidhi talked about the joy of cooking as an act of self-care. She said that Vitamin J (Joy) is what one can derive through cooking, providing a sense of fulfillment with every attempt.
From L to R: Neha Ranglani and Vidhi Doshi in conversation with Melanie Speet, IAGT Global, for the ‘Nourishing Your Heroine Superpowers’ panel.
An experiential salon consisted of activities ‘Write Letters To Your Future Self’, ‘Spin The Wheel’, ‘Doodle Wall’ by Aditi and the ‘Heroine Mirror’, where everyone could express their superhero dreams, aspirations, friendships and anything else that makes you feel like the protagonist of your life story.
Doodle Wall At The It’s A Girl Thing Salon (IAGT) by Crafter_Aditi
Attendees at Comic Con x IAGT Salon are penning Letters to Their Future Selves — envisioning their journeys and setting intentions for the road ahead.
A fellow Comic Con attendee posing with her goodie after winning IAGT’s ‘Spin The Wheel’ game.
Reflecting on the two power-packed days at IAGT, Emma Louise Fung said, “The 2025 edition marked our fifth time to India and our first time at Comic Con, and it was a wonderfully suitable way to change our content up and bring a dedicated female voice and power into Comic Con in Mumbai. The IAGT zone was dancing, chatting, chilling and playing games under the umbrella of Main Heroine Hoon and vibing with a positive, diverse and hopeful energy. Artists, creators, and girl-bosses came together to spark conversations that challenged, inspired, and created a roadmap to create an equitable environment for women to thrive. It was A LOT of fun.”
You can follow It’s a Girl Thing India at @iagtindia and join the movement.
