Warangal: The rapid growth in the telecommunication sector which made internet services available even in the hinterlands of the country is impacting the lives of the people in many aspects.
The availability of internet services at affordable cost are helping the rural folk unearth their hidden talents. There is a spurt in creative activity and the number of people running the YouTube channels in rural Telangana. Some of them are earning lakhs of rupees per month by creating short films based on rural life.
Now, several rural folks with ‘no much knowledge’ of technology in making movies, are proving their mettle in making funny and comedy short films using the local dialect, and earning name and fame besides making money through ads.
On the other hand, the Covid situation gave a thrust to creative content making with most of the population was forced to stay indoors due to pandemic.
Pathem Ravi, an autorickshaw driver and photographer of Mancherami village of Sultanabad mandal in Peddapalli district, is making good money through his YouTube channels which are aimed at entertaining the children as well as the elders for nearly three years.
“I studied up to sixth class only, and I was not aware of YouTube or other social media platforms until I happened to see a funny video by a little girl named Junnu on the ‘5 Star Junnu’ channel three years ago. As I faced some difficulties in the photography business, I decided to do short films with my kid Manu and wife Rajitha. A video about Manu’s birthday went viral on social media. Now, I have 1.01 M subscribers for my YouTube channel ‘Telugu Latest All’ and 291k subscribers for ‘Telugu Latest All atoz’ channels,” Ravi told ‘Telangana Today’.
Many of these shows are based on things related to the kids. “I have made videos in learning how to drive a bike, fishing and playing different village games where my kid Manu, wife Rajith and a few others acted,” he added. His wife Rajitha is also running a YouTube channel named ‘Pathem Rajitha’ which has 48.5K subscribers.
‘5 Star Junnu’, another YouTube channel, is run by the people from Kondapur village of Velgatoor mandal in Jagitial district, has 388K subscribers. Junnu, a little girl, is the main lead of these shows based on village comedy, festivals, games and farming activity. Another YouTube channel run by a family from a village near Jagtial town ‘Trends Adda’ has got 8.68 lakh subscribers. These three YouTube channels are having much impact on the children in Telangana. “My three-old-son Romitshreyan Reddy has been watching these videos for the last one year on his smartphone. He watches a single video again and again,” said Annam Saritha of Hanamkonda.
On other hand, some people with good academic background like Sriram Srikanth of Lambadipally village near Jagtial town, who is running ‘My Village Show’ channel are also earning lakhs of rupees on YouTube. Sriram claims that his channel was the first village-based channel in Telugu. The channel uploads videos that represent the village lifestyle and culture by adding some fun to it. We do short films, movie promotions, and also sponsored videos. Our channel has around 1.4 million subscribers from all over the world. An illiterate elderly woman, Milkuri Gangavva, one of the team members, earned much fame with the My Village Show and she even entered the Telugu reality TV show ‘Bigg Boss 4’ as one of the 19 contestants.
Many such YouTube channels are producing videos or short films from Telangana. On the other hand, the viewers of these comedies are also illiterates and semi-literates.
However, Dr Bhukya Devender, an Assistant Professor in the Dept of Education, Kakatiya University (KU), has expressed concern over the adverse impact of the videos on children and teenagers. “Some teenagers are getting filthy videos and even porn on the mobile. This is a worrying trend,” he added.
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