HYDERABAD: Lasya Manjunath was taking a break from television anchoring in 2018 and was all set to enjoy her pregnancy while hoping to return to the telly soon after. But she had several nagging doubts about what to eat, what asanas to do, what medicines to avoid etc and she realised there wasn’t much to help urban, Telugu moms-to-be who live in nuclear families.
She started with a casual Vlog in selfie mode on her iPhone10 and posted on YouTube as part of #LasyaTalks. The engagement she got with the video spurred her to do more short vidoes and that too in Telugu. In fact, even her peers consider that Lasya is first among television show host to open her own channel on the video sharing network. While she is proud of her seven lakh subscribers, YouTube recognised her work last week for achieving 89.4 million views and 2.3 million likes from her fans for your channel. “This recognition from the channel itself is like the icing on the cake,” she exclaims.
Today, Lasya, who is still on a break from television and was recently in the Bigg Boss House says that most people think it is easy to create two dozen videos and earn big money. “Lakshallo sampadiddam ani modalu pedataru. But having your own channel is like a full-time profession. Your content has to be engaging, relatable, at the same time aspirational, glamorous, emotional etc. I shoot about two videos a week and I know the pain creators go through while thinking of content,” she says. “I earned 25K in the first video. Even too celebs have to go a long way – perhaps five years – before they earn in lakhs”, she confesses.
#LasyaTalks says she likes to think across the month and make five videos on one weekend when her husband Manjunath, a corporate employee, is at home for the weekends and she gets her work done. “I worked in Google for a few years and that’s where I met Manjunath. The corporate life teaches you work-life balance and I do a good job of managing my channel and my 18-month old boy Daksh Manas, aka Junnu, also someone who frequently appears in her shows”. She was not too sure of shooting videos or editing it herself but learned it on the job. “Every woman should create her own office and work on it.
We are all not born with these skills but with a few trials and errors, we can get there. I was a zero with these skills as all I did before that was to dance and emote in my TV shows. However, now I have Mango brand mentoring me up and helping me reach out to more audiences,” she explains. Learning to shoot with a tripod, using sharp audio apps and editing software has helped her keep her overhead expenses less. “In fact I do my own makeup and styling. But if designers send me outfits, I am happy to wear it, give them a shoutout and tag them. It’s a win-win.”
She managed to get seven lakh subscribers in less than two years and that comes from her already mighty following in social media. It was during the lockdown when TV shows were on hold and movie sets were empty that most of the artistes decided to explore this medium for some serious, professional content – talks, panel sessions, skits, vlogs etc. “Also the fact that there were few Telugu channels with such content helped me grow faster,” she adds. Edutainment was her mantra and it seemed to have worked. The actor who had guest roles in movies such as MLA and Raja Nuvvu Keka says 2021 will hopefully bring her some bubbly characters in Tollywood.
— Manju Latha Kalanidhi
kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com
@mkalanidhi