Sneakerheads, unite! Mihir Joshi's 'Just Talk Sneakers' aims to validate the sneaker community

The first guest on Mihir Joshi’s show is actor Tanuj Virwani

Collector would be the right term to describe Mihir Joshi. Since the age of 10, he has been collecting comics. In the last five years, he expanded his interest to sneakers and now has an enviable collection. But there is something that differentiates him from other sneaker heads. The musician-talk show host is taking his interest a step ahead by producing India's first-ever sneaker show, Just Talk Sneakers. "A lot of people are asking, ‘What is sneaker culture all about?' This show hopes to explain that over eight episodes," starts Joshi.

Mihir Joshi

His show will be divided into two parts - an interview segment, and another segment where he explains the different elements that made people's love for kicks such a phenomenon. "I have people ranging from actors to YouTube stars and content creators as my guests. My first guest is Tanuj Virwani. When you see his collection, you'll be blown away. I have done another episode with Sangeet Paryani and Nisha Lulla, who are the founders of Super Kicks, one of the first retail multi-brand sneaker stores in Mumbai," he shares.

Joshi says, "In the second segment of my show, I will talk about various elements of sneaker culture and how they are connected. For instance, how is basketball or hip-hop connected to sneaker culture? What exactly is streetwear, and what is resale?"

Tanuj Virwani's sneaker collection

Joshi adds that the show, to be aired on Zee Café, is born from a peculiar habit that he has - "when I fall in love with something, I want to create a community around it." With Just Talk Sneakers, he wants to find people who share his passion. "The sneaker community has exploded. This show is a representation of what that community is like. Since there is still a huge population in our country that consumes content on television, sneaker culture reaching TV makes it mainstream. Youngsters between the age of 16 and 24 are selling sneakers and making thousands and thousands of rupees every month. Their parents ask them, ‘Yaar, yeh kya kar raha hai?' When they see a show like this, it legitimises this new generation who are making money and supporting their passion."

We tell Joshi that most of these shoes are mind-bogglingly expensive. How will the culture ever be mainstream in a country like India at such prohibitive prices? "This is a misconception I'm trying to eliminate through the show. Being a sneaker head does not mean spending Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 on a pair of sneakers. You can get them for as little as Rs 5,000 on shopping apps like Myntra or VegNonVeg. Those who are buying shoes for Rs 1 lakh are a small subset of the culture."