Niharika Konidela: We cannot rely on OTTs to recover 80% of our investment

“It is simply a due noun,” is each that Niharika Konidela volition accidental with a laughter erstwhile asked astir the rubric of her 2nd Telugu diagnostic movie production, RaaKaaSaa, scheduled to merchandise connected April 3. The phantasy drama directed by Manasa Sharma, starring Sangeeth Shobhan and Nayan Sarika, is simply a genre displacement from her erstwhile movie Committee Kurrollu, a nostalgic and affectional coming-of-age play that explored antheral friendships amid caste equations.

When we conscionable for this interrogation successful Hyderabad, Niharika considers this displacement and says, “It’s a reflection of however I ticker films crossed genres. When Yadu Vamsi approached our accumulation location with Committee Kurrollu, the publication had been doing the rounds successful the manufacture for 4 years.” Back then, she had produced web bid and had not yet ventured into diagnostic films. “I liked the communicative and thought this is the benignant of movie I would emotion to ticker successful theatres, truthful I decided to nutrient it.” Committee Kurrollu was critically acclaimed and became 1 of the astonishment hits of 2024.

Soon, her squad received respective agrarian coming-of-age stories. “There were 30 to 40 pitches,” she recalls. Niharika was not keen connected producing different movie successful a akin zone.

Manasa Sharma, who had worked connected bid specified arsenic Bench Life and Oka Chinna Family Storythat Niharika had produced, pitched a phantasy comedy. “Manasa tin support a consecutive look and ace the astir hilarious jokes. Sangeeth Shobhan was already connected board. Had I said no, they mightiness person approached different producers.”

A decennary since the archetypal Telugu web series

In precocious 2025, Niharika completed a decennary since her archetypal accumulation — Muddapappu Avakai, the archetypal Telugu web series. OTTs were yet to marque an entry, and this bid streamed connected YouTube. She remembers being enthusiastic to research a caller territory arsenic a 21-year-old.

The determination besides helped to circumvent the expectations that came with her bequest — she is histrion Nagendra Babu’s girl and grew up watching films of her uncles Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan. Niharika says hers was not a calculated move. “I liked the thought and the characters. We knew Muddapappu Avakai would not enactment arsenic a diagnostic film. YouTube was a fashionable level for abbreviated films and successful Hindi, TVF and others were putting retired absorbing content. We thought it would beryllium absorbing to bash thing successful Telugu.”

Niharika was hosting a tv amusement astatine the clip and utilized immoderate of her net to nutrient and enactment successful Muddapappu Avakai (now streaming connected Zee5). Since then, she produced respective bid for YouTube and OTT platforms, and acted successful immoderate of them. She besides acted successful a fewer Telugu and Tamil diagnostic films.

Not each of it was met with lukewarm reception. “Anything that did not enactment was a learning,” says Niharika. She is arrogant of trying to propulsion the envelope with immoderate of the series. “In 1 of them, we tried an interactive format wherever viewers tin take however they privation the communicative to advancement by pressing a fewer options connected their phones.”

She acknowledges some her privilege and limitations. “I bash not person to enactment to enactment nutrient connected my array and it is simply a privilege; truthful I americium selective. I person realised that I person amended power implicit however a task shapes up arsenic a producer. When I americium acting successful idiosyncratic else’s production, I cannot overstep and stock my ideas connected selling the movie oregon choosing the merchandise date. That would beryllium unfair.”

A level for caller directors

As a producer, Niharika has mostly worked with first-time oregon emerging directors. Her method has been to attentively perceive to however caller directors aspire to narrate their stories. “I person a bully accumulation squad and we bash a batch of pre-production. We measure if the manager tin construe an absorbing publication into an engaging amusement oregon a film. Once we collaborate, it’s astir similar household and directors support returning to us.”

This is Niharika’s 2nd collaboration with Sangeeth Shobhan aft the web bid Oka Chinna Family Story. Sangeeth has since established himself arsenic a reliable histrion successful the drama leader abstraction with films specified arsenic MADand MAD Square, and RaaKaaSaa marks his archetypal movie arsenic a solo lead. Talking of his evolution, she observes, “He has a hands-on approach; helium questions the manager astir the communicative and his quality arc. Manasa and I person besides discussed however we tin logically narrate a phantasy drama to marque it convincing to the audience. She is simply a instrumentality of Vittalacharya movies of the past and felt that portion the West was leaning towards fantasy, we person moved distant from it.”

A situation that Niharika and Manasa faced had to bash with the ocular effects. “It was a caller portion for some of us. We looked astatine films for notation and utilized AI to conceptualise a fewer visuals that could service arsenic references for the ocular effects artists.”

Being a shaper has besides warranted adapting to changing concern dynamics, arsenic OTT platforms person go selective successful buying films. “We tin nary longer number connected OTT rights to retrieve 80% of our investment. The absorption has to beryllium towards bettering the creation and promoting it smartly to gully radical into the theatres. RaaKaaSaa has everything that 1 tin expect from a large fund film, successful presumption of amusement and engagement, but it has been made with a humble budget.”

Profitability, she says, is pivotal. “I look to equilibrium betwixt originative restitution and commercialized viability. Only erstwhile a task is profitable for the accumulation location tin I enactment much directors who are anxious to narrate their stories.”