Telugu web series haven’t had the most welcoming starts among netizens; some felt these ideas were not fit to be made into features, some added they were extended short films with better technical values. Somewhere along, many realised that the medium bridged the gap between television soaps and short films with vague ideas. Actors like Niharika Konidela used it as a testing ground before they entered feature films. Despite multiple films in her kitty, she is slated to do another web series Nanna Koochi along with her actor-producer dad Naga Babu. While there are actors like Aditi Myakal (her next is Mohana Krishna Indraganti’s Aami Tumi ) and Lavanya Dasetty (who acted in Manamantha and is back with a web series Munching with Mahathalli ) who used the digital medium to enter films, a lot of actors look up to web series like any other storytelling medium and don’t mind balancing it with their film stint.
Actor Dhanya Balakrishna, popular for her spunky roles in films like Savitri , Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, Raju Gari Gadhi and Love Failure , makes her digital debut with the web series Pilla , directed by young Pavan Sadineni (who has directed Prema Ishq Kadhal and Savitri ). As the series opens on Viu, a mobile video-on-demand service of Vuclip, she reveals that content matters to her more than the medium. “As I grew up watching Friends and How I Met Your Mother , I wondered why we can’t have content like that in our region. I’m finally glad to reach audiences who will have a closer connect to my work and wait for the next episode. Online content is the future, there’s freedom in the space,” she accepts.
A still from ‘Endukila’
She has good company from her contemporaries who’re game to juggling between two mediums. Actor Sumanth Ashwin who will be seen next in Vamsy’s Fashion Designer S/O Ladies Tailor , has signed up for a web series titled Endukila , produced by Deva Katta and directed by Lakshman Karya. Viva Harsha returns to his roots with Viu’s series Cinema Pichollo . Shalini Vandikatti who has acted in a Tamil film Vellaiya Irukiravan Poi Solla Maatan , is pairing up with Kerintha actor Vishwanth for Chai Bisket’s web series titled Nenu Mee Kalyan that goes live on April 4. So is the case with Chandamama Kathalu actress Shamili Sounderajan who pairs up with Life is Beautiful actor Abhijeet for Viu’s web series Pelli Gola , a marriage comedy. The latter finds the production values of a web series to be on par with the film industry. While Abhijeet admits he’s a more television person as a spectator, he’s happy to make inroads into a space where there are no barriers.
A still from Nenu Mee Kalyan
Apart from actors , filmmakers too are happy to take creative liberties for a young audience, where they aren’t burdened by commercial constraints. While Aparna Malladi did that with Posh Poris after her feature film debut, directors Mallik Ram (who made Naruda Donaruda ) and Pavan Sadineni feel at home in the format, as they come up with Pelli Gola and Pilla soon. Director Kalyan Shankar, the man behind Nenu Mee Kalyan , who has worked with filmmakers Teja, Vijayendra Prasad in the past finds that there’s enough time to shape up a character in a web series.
“What’s also challenging is to sustain the tempo and curiosity for each episode, the advantage is the scope to be more natural. Initially I was doubtful whether film actors would come forward to act in it, but once they heard my story, they didn’t think twice at all. While a short film only allows you to expand an idea, a web series is a better test of a storyteller’s mettle,” he adds.
