Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Prudhvi Raj changed his name for the screen and henceforth he will be known as Udbhav. After his schooling and college in Hyderabad, Udbhav went to the US for his Masters. Even while he was doing B.Tech, he was doing short films. He did post-graduation just to make his mother happy and later began following his dream. There too, in the US, he shot a video on cooking and other subjects. He reminisces, “My roommate cooked and we loved it, next day he made another curry and it was good too. The following days we realised the vegetables changed but the ingredients were the same and so was his approach which is why it all tasted the same. Another video was Chicago Subba Rao which was a huge hit. I was inclined towards acting but never expressed it to anyone. I did have inhibitions. I began working but had no satisfaction and to divert my mind, I acted in a video on cricket, how difficult it is to support your country while living abroad. It was then my friends suggested that instead of coaxing others to act I should give acting a try. I did ‘RGV roommate aithe’ and it turned viral. RGV liked it too and the response from others was good, obviously it was a shot in the arm. Directors back home liked Chicago Subba Rao and so we began movie promotions through Chicago Subba Rao. For the filmmakers it was an instrument to promote the project for NRIs.”
Udbhav’s contacts grew and in 2017, he got an offer to act. In fact many people started calling him but then, after a few days nothing would move. It was at this time he realised how important it is for a wannabe actor to be in Hyderabad and how visibility helps get contacts and films. He then decided to explore an acting career. Both in the USA and in India he attended workshops and quit his job and resolved to try seriously. He remarks quite wisely, “A right time and right project is necessary and it is only then contacts come of use, otherwise we can’t presume that name dropping will get us opportunities. TVF (The Viral Fever) is the producer for Roommates and Tamada Media is the executive producer of the show; TVF made its debut with this and AhA is streaming it. They auditioned five or six people for the same role and I was selected. I was a huge fan of the show, the script was structured according to the Telugu nativity. I was all set for the shoot and then lockdown was announced. There were certain personal issues also which pushed me to take a break and I went to the US again.”
Udbhav was clueless at this point of time, he really needed an opening and that too in the field of his choice. He had anxiety issues when he saw his parents getting tense about his career. He recollects, “All I was doing was walking up to the terrace and then coming down and didn’t know when the project would begin, and thought I should try and do something in the US temporarily. My sister works in Dallas and I stayed with her. After a month, I got a call and I rushed back to Hyderabad and was in quarantine. Later, we shot for 18 days and all through the shoot, I had a feeling that this could be a dream debut. I was counting days as the shoot went on.” It was too good to be true for someone who was waiting for an opportunity to turn into reality. Pavan Sadhineni took over as the director who had health issues and had to leave. Pavan Sadineni was busy with Ganesh Bellamkonda’s film in the USA but due to the pandemic, he got a break and wrapped this up first.
Ask him if there has been any changes in the Telugu version and he says, “ In 2013 when they shot in Mumbai it was apt, and in 2020 Hyderabad is different. Some changes were done for relatability. The first season has five episodes and the entire duration is two and a half hours. Based on the response, the second season takes off. We have signed the second season too. The couple meet on a dating app. The commitment issues, marriage, confusions etc are all addressed and the youth are sure to connect. Every character is very weird. This guy is mad about commitment and wants to marry …he leaves his job for it. Lot of characters are strange here and they behave like mental people. Everything is organic, the couple deal with a separate character in every episode and it is really weird. One among them is the heroine’s father. The only normal person out there is the heroine.”
He further shares the rapport he has with the girl, “The social media accounts they share define their relationships. They don’t have any insecurities or differences. She doesn’t say she is not interested in marriage, she only says ‘not now’. He is a hopeless romantic which is why though he tortures her she sticks to him. There is a mad honesty about him. The season ends when they decide to live together. And there is a lot to explore in the subsequent seasons. Lot of Telugu people in the USA are craving content on OTT. Right now people don’t seem to be inclined to go to theatres. Pavan owned the script and if the performances get praise, the credit goes to him. It is like a cinema, it isn’t small because we call it an OTT project. We are all confident that the project will do good to all of us.”
