Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus...yeah yeah we have heard that a zillion times. The stereotypes of both the sexes have been scooped up generously by serials and movies for generations.
But guess what? More or less, that’s what we innately are.
That’s what spices up our daily lives. It’s on this theme that Manoj Krishna and Darshini Shekhar, protagonists of the web series ‘Geeta Subramanyam,’ are throwing light on.
The series aims to portray the common misunderstandings, breakups and the ‘silly fights’ that young couples in a live-in engage in each day, garnished with humour. The actors give us an insight into the nuts and bolts of this absorbing web series.
“Last summer, one of my friends introduced me to Sivasai Vardan Jaladhanki, the director of our series, who was looking for actors for his film. I took the audition and landed the part,” says Darshini Sekhar, an architecture student and the protagonist of ‘Geetha Subramanyam’, the new Telugu web series, produced by Wirally Telugu of Tammada Media, which is going viral on YouTube. The first and second episodes have garnered over 4.5 lakh views so far.
The storyline explores the lives of live-in couples . “Youth can connect to the script,” says Manoj Krishna Tanneru, the male lead who is an upcoming actor and is working for short films.
Two out of seven episodes of the series are currently online. Director Sivasai has also penned the dialogues for the series. Sivasai works for software firm Tech Mahindra, but is passionate about making movies.
He has directed two short films ‘Kshaminchu’ and ‘I am Karthick’ earlier, prior to this project. With all this experience, both Manoj and Darshini were all praise for the ‘captain of the ship’.
“We were naughty on the sets, but Sivasai was patient. We had great fun while shooting as he treated us like his siblings,” shared the duo. “And whenever we get time in between shoots, we used to sleep because we lacked rest and our captain would bribe us with a Redbull and lure us with some goodies and convince us for another shot,” they laugh.
The entire project was shot in Hyderabad at a house in Nagole and coffeeshops across the city. “We shot for 13 days and our shoot began at six in the morning and it would go on till 8 pm,” recalls Darshini. “The script came to us last May and we finished the shoot in June, but we released it now after so many hurdles and struggles.
The struggle is worth the wait, going by the number of views it has garnered,” Manoj supports his reel life girlfriend’s point.
While web series’ have become a huge phenomenon in English and Hindi languages, the concept is still in its nascent stage in Telugu. The two web series that seem to have caught our attention are Avakaya Muddapappu and Posh Poris.
However the actors are optimistic about its growth. Their optimism can be reiterated from the four lakh plus clicks each episode that the series has received on YouTube so far.
“Our attempt is to question the elders who are against live-in relationships and also to change the mindset of people who think that live-in is only about sex,” explained he actors.
So what’s next for the actors? While Darshini plans to return to her studies, Manoj has set his sight on the box office. “I have acted in another web series ‘Katha’ which is going to be released in May. It is a suspense thriller and is directed by Anupam Tej,” he says.
Well they can’t contain their happiness that a special song composed for the series is being hummed by many. “In fact, Mahatalli (Telugu YouTube star), who was humming our song, was telling us that she is jealous on how the song is addictive and is looking forward to have one such song for her series too,” Darshini laughs.
Like any other star couple, Manoj and Darshini are also being questioned online if they are dating in real life too because they make the emotions look real. “To capture some real emotions, my director and I would discuss and secretly fabricate some acts with Manoj and get the tangible expressions,” Darshini shares looking at Manoj.
For now, the actors are happy basking in the stardom of ‘Geetha…
“We are being recognised by people in shopping malls and public spaces. It is a good feeling,” they conclude.