Decoding the Indian techie’s love formula

While this GITAM alumnus was toying with the idea of a splash on the big screen, he was also garnering numbers on his YouTube Channel which has 1.3 million subscribers today.
Decoding the Indian techie’s love formula

HYDERABAD: When Shanmukh Jaswanth Kandregula, 26, posts a one-liner ‘Nijamaina prema eppatiki odipodu. Ela vundi?” and his fans shower 1,21,220 likes on the line and the photo of the heartbroken Shannu posing in a grey shirt against a dark sky. Some may think it is Covid-19 effect where heartbreak seems to go with the current depressing vibe of Coronavirus and the rains in the state. But the actor, dancer and creator believes it’s because lakhs of software engineers across the country relate to his role in the new series titled ‘The Software DevLOVEper, a 10-episode series on YouTube directed by Subbu K.

The ninth episode, where he faces a heartbreak,  has garnered 4.9 million views and trended at #1 on the Bathukamma weekend. Shannu, as he is known online, says the stupendous views are because the series recreates the life of a regular, middleclass boy who is shy, yet wants love, wants to impress the girl, her parents and his parents, yet sign up for an  offsite project to earn money. Incidentally, the series started in the middle of lockdown on July 31 and the finale is set to   air on October 27. “This was the reason why we had to  make do with whatever location we could get. We shot most of the series in the conference hall of Infinitum Media, our production house, in Jubilee Hills. We were not sure how many episodes we would shoot as it all depends on the response to it. Seeing the momentum pick up after the second episode, we went on till the tenth with a bound script,” he adds. The team, a small one with around six artistes, shoots on two days and another two spent in other technicalities to release a new video every week. 

Shanmukh was first seen in   the hugely successful YouTube video called Viva, but he built his own profile as the dancing star. Much before the word creator and influencer started making a buzz, as early as 2017, Shannu started dancing his heart out to popular Telugu  numbers. A dancer who also loves to choreograph, he wasn’t just content dancing to a number like the star in the movie. He wanted to be creative and started making covers (own interpretations) of dance numbers. “They were hugely popular, but I had to stop as I started facing copyright issues from the film makers. Although the public remembers  me as the dancer, I eventually want to be an actor,” says the actor who moved from Vizag to Hyderabad in 2014.

While this GITAM alumnus was toying with the idea of a splash on the big screen, he was also garnering numbers on his YouTube Channel which has 1.3 million subscribers today. “ He started creating videos since he was 19 and that has helped him hone his skills. Incidentally, he was never formally trained in dance,  yet he dances like a dream. He seems to be the Gen X heartthrob as the internet is full of questions such as ‘Shanmukh girlfriend... salary... tattoo... age’ etc. 

The current role of a lover boy seems to have made him even more intriguing for his girl fans. So, can he give a piece of advice to all aspiring lover boys in the state on how to go about impressing his girl? “Impossible. There is no one way because it is always ‘her’ way. One just needs to understand her heart and act accordingly,” he states. Learn from him, guys!

— Manju Latha Kalanidhi
 kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com
 @mkalanidhi

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