Tharagathi Gadhi Daati, the upcoming Telugu web series, directed by filmmaker Mallik Ram, is set to premiere on Aha Video on August 20, the streaming platform announced while releasing the teaser on social media on Tuesday.
The series is the official remake of TVF’s Hindi series Flames that revolves around teenage romance.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Ram says the show is not a straight adaptation. “We have changed so much, but kept the core emotion the same. The original show had a shorter runtime, about 10-12 minutes per episode, but we made it a bit longer, so we have more characters and subplots. While Flames is set in south Delhi, our series takes place in a small village and there is a big difference between how people behave in the two places.”
The series, which consists of five episodes, each spanning 21-22 minutes, is set in a village in Andhra Pradesh. The show was primarily shot in Guntur and the Godavari region in Andhra Pradesh, along with a few indoor shots in Hyderabad. “My roots are from the same region, so I was comfortable shooting there and was able to bring in the slang,” adds Ram.
The dialogues have been written by Kittu Vissapragada, who also hails from the Godavari region.
According to the director, the core emotion of the series is first love. The coming-of-age drama revolves a boy who falls in love at first sight with a girl who has just moved to his village. “The only thing that we retained from the original series, is the use of 90s music and classic hits in the background in the place of an original score. It helps to infuse the same sense of nostalgia that first love inspires.”
Tharagathi Gadhi Daati features Harshith Reddy and Payal Radhakrishna in the lead roles. The actors play first-year college students and were cast through auditions. “They play IIT aspirants who attend the same coaching centre and that is where the story is set,” says Ram.
The filmmaker was approached by the platform in August 2020 to helm this remake and he took it up since he is comfortable with the romantic comedy genre.
Apart from this series, Ram is also awaiting the release of the Telugu film Adbhutham, starring Teja Sajja and Shivani Rajashekar. Asked about the release of the film, which the filmmaker had earlier told us was in the final stages of post-production, he says, “Theatres have opened up, but the numbers are not promising so far. It is slowly picking up but a lot depends on the genre. The audience prefers watching only larger-than-life films in theatres for the most part. So, personally, I would opt for an OTT release. But it is entirely the call of the producers.”
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As a filmmaker who works on both series and films, Ram feels the primary difference between the two formats is in the screenplay. “The challenge with series is determining how to break up the story into episodes. You have to make the audience eager for the next episode. And that comes down to the way an episode ends. Also, unlike films, you get to explore several different subplots, do character studies, and establish the characters slowly. There is so much you can do in the web space.”
Ram will next work on a sci-fi investigative thriller web series for Disney+ Hotstar which will go on floors in December. He also reveals that he has an action-thriller caper-comedy film with actor Satya Dev that will kickstart in March 2022.