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Niharika Konidela: We cannot rely on OTTs to recover 80% of our investment
Niharika Konidela: We cannot rely on OTTs to recover 80% of our investment
“It is a proper noun,” is all that Niharika Konidela will say with a laugh when asked about the title of her second Telugu feature film production, RaaKaaSaa, scheduled to release on April 3. The fantasy comedy directed by Manasa Sharma, starring Sangeeth Shobhan and Nayan Sarika, is a genre shift from her previous film Committee Kurrollu, a nostalgic and emotional coming-of-age drama that explored male friendships amid caste equations.
When we meet for this interview in Hyderabad, Niharika considers this shift and says, “It’s a reflection of how I watch films across genres. When Yadu Vamsi approached our production house with Committee Kurrollu, the script had been doing the rounds in the industry for four years.” Back then, she had produced web series and had not yet ventured into feature films. “I liked the story and thought this is the kind of film I would love to watch in theatres, so I decided to produce it.” Committee Kurrollu was critically acclaimed and became one of the surprise hits of 2024.
Soon, her team received several rural coming-of-age stories. “There were 30 to 40 pitches,” she recalls. Niharika was not keen on producing another film in a similar zone.
Manasa Sharma, who had worked on series such as Bench Life and Oka Chinna Family Storythat Niharika had produced, pitched a fantasy comedy. “Manasa can keep a straight face and crack the most hilarious jokes. Sangeeth Shobhan was already on board. Had I said no, they might have approached other producers.”
In late 2025, Niharika completed a decade since her first production — Muddapappu Avakai, the first Telugu web series. OTTs were yet to make an entry, and this series streamed on YouTube. She remembers being enthusiastic to explore a new territory as a 21-year-old.
The move also helped to circumvent the expectations that came with her legacy — she is actor Nagendra Babu’s daughter and grew up watching films of her uncles Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan. Niharika says hers was not a calculated move. “I liked the idea and the characters. We knew Muddapappu Avakai would not work as a feature film. YouTube was a popular platform for short films and in Hindi, TVF and others were putting out interesting content. We thought it would be interesting to do something in Telugu.”
Niharika was hosting a television show at the time and used some of her earnings to produce and act in Muddapappu Avakai (now streaming on Zee5). Since then, she produced several series for YouTube and OTT platforms, and acted in some of them. She also acted in a few Telugu and Tamil feature films.
Not all of it was met with warm reception. “Anything that did not work was a learning,” says Niharika. She is proud of trying to push the envelope with some of the series. “In one of them, we tried an interactive format where viewers can choose how they want the story to progress, something on the lines of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, by pressing a few options on their phones.”
Niharika and Manasa Sharma | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
She acknowledges both her privilege and limitations. “I do not have to act to put food on my table and it is a privilege; so I am selective. I have realised that I have better control over how a project shapes up as a producer. When I am acting in someone else’s production, I cannot overstep and share my ideas on marketing the film or choosing the release date. That would be unfair.”
As a producer, Niharika has mostly worked with first-time or emerging directors. Her method has been to attentively listen to how new directors aspire to narrate their stories. “I have a good production team and we do a lot of pre-production. We assess if the director can translate an interesting script into an engaging show or a film. Once we collaborate, it’s almost like family and directors keep returning to us.”
This is Niharika’s second collaboration with Sangeeth Shobhan after the web series Oka Chinna Family Story. Sangeeth has since established himself as a reliable actor in the comedy hero space with films such as MADand MAD Square, and RaaKaaSaa marks his first film as a solo lead. Talking of his evolution, she observes, “He has a hands-on approach; he questions the director about the story and his character arc. Manasa and I have also discussed how we can logically narrate a fantasy comedy to make it convincing to the audience. She is a fan of Vittalacharya movies of the past and felt that while the West was leaning towards fantasy, we have moved away from it.”
Niharika Konidela | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A challenge that Niharika and Manasa faced had to do with the visual effects. “It was a new zone for both of us. We looked at films for reference and used AI to conceptualise a few visuals that could serve as references for the visual effects artists.”
Being a producer has also warranted adapting to changing business dynamics, as OTT platforms have become selective in buying films. “We can no longer count on OTT rights to recover 80% of our investment. The focus has to be towards bettering the art and promoting it smartly to draw people into the theatres. RaaKaaSaa has everything that one can expect from a big budget film, in terms of entertainment and engagement, but it has been made with a modest budget.”
Profitability, she says, is pivotal. “I look to balance between creative satisfaction and commercial viability. Only when a project is profitable for the production house can I support more directors who are eager to narrate their stories.”
Published - March 24, 2026 07:30 am IST
The Hindu MetroPlus / The Hindu Cinema Plus / Telugu cinema
Source: TheHindu
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