The Insta reel maker who made Lessi, Paapa go viral

CHENNAI: “Lessi hit the ball out of the terrace, that too three times,” says P Selvi in her recent reel as she garlands a Messi jersey on her Instagram page called 350 Shirts. She is referring to Argentina’s football icon Lionel Messi’s hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Following up is France’s captain, Kylian Mbappé, whom she calls ‘paapa’.

Selvi (54), who owns the ‘350 Shirts’ shop in Nainarmandabam, Puducherry, went viral after her reel calling Spanish footballer Lamine Yamal ‘Lakshmi Amma’ took over Tamil Nadu’s internet.

When Yamal made his FIFA debut on June 15 against Cape Verde, the internet was filled with ‘Lakshmi Amma made his debut today’ comments. Selvi began making reels two years ago to boost her sales. She was a domestic worker before setting up this business, as she did not want to be idle.

“After 30 years in domestic work, my health didn’t support me. So I started selling shirts out of my home,” she says. “Now, it’s a small shop.”

Selvi records, shoots and uploads the reels herself. Her husband, Palani, helps her with handling the shop, and sometimes her son, who is a cop, does too. She has four boys helping her out with the business.

“If you want sales, you have to do this,” she says. “I got the idea after seeing the short video content becoming popular. I handle the shop – from sourcing the clothes to marketing them.”

The jerseys were dropped by a seller in front of her as the FIFA World Cup was approaching. She mistook the jerseys for those of cricketers. “Messi and Ronaldo jerseys didn’t sellat all. So I thought of making them into a reel,” she smiles. “I know cricket is popular in India, and the only one I know about. I’ve made reels about Dhoni and Kohli. So I thought these were some cricketers too.”

Her reels picked up because of her quirk and funny mispronunciation of the names of these players. Other than the cricketers, it was actor Ajith Kumar’s ‘Good Bad Ugly’ shirts that went viral.

Her shop is open from 8.30 am to 10 pm. The business, although it does not yield much profit, has been sustainable. “Some days, there is nothing to earn. Even if I sell for around Rs 5,000, the profit is very low,” she says.

After the FIFA reels, the sales have picked up a little bit. Tourists come looking for her and her jerseys. Despite the low profits, everything is priced at Rs 350. “People who shop with me are not well-to-do. We want to keep the shirts affordable for them,” she says. “Students often come with their friends, and they can’t afford expensive ones. Selling to people like them is the most satisfying part of this.”

She has garnered much limelight as the World Cup takes centre stage across the globe. As this reporter is on call with her, she gets another call from a radio show in Qatar that wants to feature her.