HYDERABAD: If there is one thing the past months have taught us, it is to look for humour and enjoy the small things in life. Even as most messages shared between family, friends and acquaintances centre around COVID-19, giving conversations a twist with funny stickers is a great way to get guffaws. Stickers are fun and better than using emojis.
As we brace ourselves for every press conference by our CM to plan our lives, a sticker package called ‘KCR Punches’ on ‘Sticker Babai’ app is gaining steam. Inspired by the ‘punchlines’ of KCR, this hilarious sticker pack has been downloaded on Android and iOS at least 2,90,952 times since it debuted on May 23.
“I am very sorry... you have to change your attitude”, “Em chedham antav mari”, and “lockdown extended to next month” are some of the funny KCR stickers going viral.
Developed by JNTU, Hyderabad alumnus Tarun Kurapati and his wife Sushma, this sticker app has nine categories and focuses on what is trending in the two Telugu States. The local language feel is comforting and strikes home right from the name of the app. On the snappy name of the app which was released for Android in 2018 and iOS in 2019, Tarun says: “Babai was a catchy word in my friends’ circle during college days, and the word ‘buildup babai’ also gained popularity from the TV show, Jabardasth.”
Tarun, 32, who currently works as a software engineering manager in Tokyo and works on the app on weekends says he got the idea from seeing his wife having funny conversations on WhatsApp sharing screenshots of movies.
He adds, “I thought stickers with movie dialogues would save her time.” While Sushma leads the sticker design, Tarun does software development for the app. “Initially, we followed meme pages on Facebook and Instagram for trending topics and content. Now, most content ideas come from our users themselves. We also conduct polls on Insta and ask users to post their favourite dialogues from movies,” replies Tarun on how they ideate.
The app has 183 sticker packs with 3500+ stickers. With over 50 million downloads, it is Top 100 in India in the entertainment category on Android and is #1 in India under the entertainment category on iOS. Compatible on WhatsApp and iMessages, Tarun is working on supporting other languages and other chat apps. Thrilled by the response to his latest ‘KCR Punches’ pack, Tarun comments that stickers have become especially popular in India. He outlines that he “wants to build a social network where users can create and share stickers with their followers or friends.”
Sticker packs with more than half-million downloads
— Tamanna S Mehdi tamanna @newindianexpress.com @tamannamehdi