HYDERABAD: Known for their comedy videos, Sandeep Raj (aka Masala Sandeep) and Suhas from the channel Chai Bisket, pop up on social media and YouTube often in the form of memes and funny sketches. But they are going viral for a different reason this time with their latest video, The Athidhi. Written and directed by Sandeep, and Kaala Bhairava’s (of Dandalayya fame) tunes added to it, the “micro-drama” is a tragic conversation between the 25-year-old and 35-year-old versions of Suhas. Just hours after its release, T’town got talking about it. With the likes of stars Sai Dharam Tej, Nani and Sharwanand showering praises and tearing up over the video, the “dream trio” are over the moon.
Breaking the comic barrier
“People know us for comedy,” says Sandeep adding, “So we consciously wanted to try out an emotional video this time around.” They admit that the video was meant to be released on Mother’s Day, but as fate has it, the concept had to go through a lot of fine tuning to finally get the desired output. “I knew it had to be Suhas who plays this character,” shares Sandeep as Suhas chimes in, “I was moved the instant I heard the script. And we’ve been working together long enough to be comfortable with each other’s artistic instincts.”
While Sandeep and Suhas have known each other personally for over two years, Kaala Bhairava, the musician for the video has known them for two years too albeit virtually. “We had been Facebook friends for years. But we met for the first time to discuss this video. It felt like we knew each other for years; as if we were picking up from last night’s conversation,” enthuses Kaala Bhairava.
Both Sandeep and Bhairava agreed on one thing instantly they say. “We both wanted to add a violin where the 35 year-old Suhas tells the younger one that his mother dies in the future. And when he told me this is what he wanted I was delighted because that was exactly what I had in mind. Sandilya Pisapati, our violinist, captured the emotion perfectly,” shares Bhairava.
Although Bhairava, who is Keeravani’s son, has earlier composed music for Baahubali - The Lost Legends, the animated series, this video he admits has to be the first one outside his family’s nest.
Speaking on how his stalwart father responded to his work in the video he says, “He, like every other father, refrains from praising me, but when he felt that the work was genuinely good, he couldn’t help but share the video on Twitter,” says Bhairava proudly.
An effort acknowledged
The 11-minute video took quite a bit of an effort to come together, though. “We did mock video shoots. It took us a day and a night to shoot it all. As it was a dual role, we had to make sure the response time of Suhas in both roles was in sync,” says Sandeep. “My stylist Darshini Shekar helped us in making the 25-year-old me different from the 35-year-old me. Our editor Pavan Kalyan too made the dual role seem very close to reality,” says Suhas.
Bhairava, Sandeep and Suhas – the stars of the video – share that they have been flooded with messages from family friends and Tollywood stars as well.
Asked when they are teaming up again and whether it would be another heart-wrenching tragedy, they have an answer ready. “Athidhi 2 is already in the making. It will be a sequel and it will be out on Friendship Day,” answers Sandeep for all the three of them signing off.