As the appetite for web content grows, one would expect that the supply too would. But while western and Hindi content is getting much attention, Telugu web series are not able to scrape by enough audience/views to come back for a second season. In such a scenario, Pelli Gola is now all set to publish its third season.
Struggling to figure out life and relationships amidst the social structure is a concept most young adults can relate to deeply.
Playing on this phenomenon against the backdrop of a “pelli” and revolving around the lives of two strong-willed youngsters, Jaggu (Varshini Sounderajan) and Varun (Abhijit Duddala), is the web series Pelli Gola.
We got chatting with Varun aka Abhijit. Bringing the character to life with his own quirks and personality, Abhijit chats up with Hyderabad Express to give us a peek into the world of Pelli Gola.
Web versus silver screen
With the budgets of digital content growing almost to equal film budgets, the potential for artists is certainly increasing. However, there are things that still keep the industries seperate believes Abhijit. “Many would say that the lines are blurring, but digital and film are two different markets. If your film does well, then you don’t land ten web series, and vice versa. Movies are two hours of content tightly packed for the audience to experience, while web series are content that the audience travel with and which has to keep them engaged over a period of a month or so. Both have to be done in their own way, they have to be strategised differently,” he says.
Wedding bells...
Pelli Gola’s first season features two young adults Jaggu and Varun for whom the concept of marriage isn’t on their mind. Varun, a doctor and Jaggu, a village belle and Kabaddi champ, have their own aspirations in life. They just do not have the time or the interest in marriage. However when they are forced into the ordeal, things change as they meet, fall in love over a series of comedic events.
The second season shows the struggles of marriage, and the effort that needs to be put into it. While they stick together as they do not want to disturb a wedding in the family, they are on the verge of splitting up. But as the episodes progress they find that they love each other more than the things they hate about one another. “Love comes through,” as Abhijit puts it.
Now with so much gola through the two seasons, it might seem that there isn’t much to explore in the third season. But Abhijit says, “Varun and Jaggu are a lot more mature in season three. They still love each other, the cat and mouse chemistry is still there but things are a lot more serious.
They realise that they want to stick together but at the same time they need to get their life together on the professional end. This season is more about how they help each other out through their individual issues.” Of course, keeping in line with the theme, there will be a wedding in the show soon.
Of OTTs and budgets
Those familiar with the series will notice that speaking to Abhijit will immediately bring to mind Varun’s demeanor. And there is a reason for that. “Varun is basically what I bring to the table for this show. Varun is a regular guy, which every guy relates to. I get a brief about what kind of a guy he is, his situations, his life while his quirks, his behaviour etc is what I am in real life,” says Abhijit. He also adds, “Varun is career-oriented. So much so that somewhere down the line, he missed out the balance.” Ask him if he himself is anything like that he instantly quips, “Oh no! I guess that’s one of the biggest differences between Varun and me. I am motivated by work, but if I am able to fulfil one task in a day I can be happy with myself and my productivity for the day enough to chill for the rest of it.”
As an actor, he thinks that he gets to grow as an artist on the web front. “The risk factor is already weighed when the OTT decides on a budget. After that it is on me to bring the best out of what is given to me. For me as an actor in web I can afford to experiment with quirky, dark or off-beat genres. My job is just to approach it honestly,” says Abhijit, who has another web project in the pipeline aside from a feature film in December.
— Srividya Palaparthi
srividya.palaparthi
@newindianexpress.com
@PSrividya53