Everyone Will Have To Say ‘Aha’ In August: Allu Aravind

Digital media has become a major source of entertainment these days.  In this context, Aha has come to achieve its own distinct identity by dishing out superb content to the Telugu viewers.  Web series like ‘Sin’, ‘Locked’, ‘Masti’s’ and ‘Geetha Subrahmanyam’ have been well appreciated. 

Recently, ‘Bhanumathi Ramakrishna’ and ‘Krishna And His Leela’ made the audience say ‘aha’ in praise of their unique content.  Marking Independence Day, Aha is now coming up with the web films ‘Johar’, ‘Metro Kathalu’, ‘Bucchinaidu Kandriga Thoorpu Veedhi’, and the talk show ‘All Is Well’.  The teams of these new releases have spoken via Zoom.  

Speaking on the occasion, producer Allu Aravind said, “The situation is problematic due to the pandemic.  We are hoping that we will come out of this situation in 2-3 months.  As a producer, I have been listening to a lot of stories on a daily basis.  But it is not possible to produce them all. 

Through Aha, however, we now have an opportunity to take to the audience a range of concepts and stories.  Covid-19 has caused the closure of cinema halls but I would like to emphasize that, any day, there is nothing bigger than cinema.  Every member of the audience goes through a special experience while watching a movie on the silver screen.  I think the theatres will see footfalls normally once people are vaccinated.  The current situation may not be ideal for theatres.”

He added, “Coming to Aha, we are celebrating August as a festival month.  Both Independence Day and Vinayaka Chavithi fall in this month.  The web films  ‘Johar’, ‘Metro Kathalu’, ‘Bucchinaidu Kandriga Thoorpu Veedhi’, and the talk show ‘All Is Well’ will be brought to our viewers to mark Independence Day.  This content will surely make the audience say ‘aha’!  Dasara will also be a festival month.  With the theatres closed down, Aha has been increasingly preferred by the audience. 

Strong content is the reason behind our success.  We have hit our target for 1.5 years in just six months.  We have seen 40 lakh downloads in these six months.  At least 1.20 crore have tried to learn about the content on Aha by searching for information.  Our estimation is that, by this time next year, the app will have been downloaded by two or three times more number of people.  We have been able to achieve this because of our team.”

Allu Aravind added, “ATTs too have been growing in popularity.  We, too, will likely get into ATT in the future and research is already going on in this respect.  We are planning 42 new shows/web series at Aha.  Coming to film shootings, they might be kickstarted in October.  There are little chances that any big film will release this year in theatres.  We think big stars will debut on OTT platforms in 2-3 years.  We are holding talks with Megastar Chiranjeevi garu for an Aha original.  He will act if he loves a concept.”

Karuna Kumar, the director of Metro Kathalu, said, “When we wanted to choose a story that can be executed keeping in mind the lockdown-related restrictions, Kadir Babu’s novel Metro Kathalu came to my mind.  We borrowed four stories from his novel in making this anthology.  This emotional anthology will surely impress the audience.”

Suma Kanakala said, “I have done game shows and hosted other programs on TV, whose run-time is limited.  Through ‘All Is Well’, which is a fist for me, we are bringing to the viewers insights into the lives of famous personalities.  A number of unsung heroes will be introduced to the viewers.”

‘Bucchinaidu Kandriga Thoorpu Veedhi’ director Krishna said, “The story of this web film takes place in a locality in a village nudged between Chittoor and Nellore.  The male lead will be seen in three different ages, from SSC days, degree and his days as a job-holder.  This is a realistic web show.”

Rajeev Kanakala, Gayatri Bhargavi, Ankit Koyya, Esther, Ravi Varma, Ali Raza and others also participated in the meet.