The web of trolls

HYDERABAD : The internet is unforgiving. Whether you are a celebrity or a common citizen, if you unwittingly post something that is remotely embarassing, a lot can transpire. Among the Telugu online community, a few comedy pages and channels are making the most of exactly that. Although for most part they don’t mean any harm, taking a joke isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Pages like Aithey Enti, CAPDT (Comedy and Punch Dialogues Telugu), Unofficial Hyderabad High Court and many others thrive on what people on the internet say to stay relevant. 

Mixing memes that they themselves created with real time incidents, they keep them in touch with their audiences, which are in lakhs. But do they step over the line sometimes and end up creating celebrities out of nobodies? Think of Raadhu guy, who became a popular meme after his video getting caught drunk and driving went viral. Or Revathi Reddy, whose bizarre dancing style is the butt of all jokes but made her so famous through memes that she has been able to make it a livelihood. We try to speak to those who create these memes and turn celebs into a joke and jokes into celebs. 

A creative outlet
It doesn’t take much to discover people saying or doing strange things online. But their strength lies in using it to their benefit. “Earlier, we used to use scenes from old popular movies to present a joke such that people would associate it with the right tone. But overtime, as they went stale, we had to keep finding new references to make jokes. We latched upon the funny things that celebrities or random people on the internet said to talk about real time topics – like cricket matches, news or political commentary,” shares Santosh Sharma, who is one of the admins of Comedy and Punch Dialogues Telugu and also a working professional from Kakinada. 

Sometimes, the reason is different. Sujeeth Kalyan, who lives in California and manages ‘Unofficial Hyderabad High Court’ says, “Some of the content that got viral on the internet was really frustrating. It wasn’t worth that much attention. I wanted to draw attention to that, in a satirical way. The intention was to let them know that the content they are doling out is subpar. I wish they stopped seeing it as hate and as constructive criticism. There are a few unskilled people thinking a lot about themselves and we intend to put up a mirror for them. Only so that they improve their content.”

No one is safe  
Everyone is vulnerable to this web of trolls. If you say something stupid, be prepared to be found by the trolls. Earlier, MLA Jaleel Khan was the butt of a series of memes for stating in an interview that Physics was a subject in B Com. Similarly, when actor Mohan Babu said the weird word “Fasak” while reciting his dialogue in an interview he gave to a national news channel, it not only blew up into numerous memes but also led to a DJ remix which now plays in house parties.

Santosh says, “These things aren’t as funny if one of our friends says it. But when a celeb says it, it becomes all the more hilarious. And most of the celebrities also take it in a stride, responding to it on their social media. All this only adds to our reach. Most actors including Manchu Vishnu and others are actually quite sportive about it, laugh and join in on the joke. A culture like that keeps negativity at bay and the camaraderie going. It also makes us feel responsible that there are people watching and that we shouldn’t be flippant about what we create.”

Looming threat
Chandu from Warangal, one of the two admins of the page Aithey Enti, which is popular for their comedy videos based on such viral statements or moments has a reason to keep his full identity under wraps. “We make fun of all the heroes based on whatever funny situation we tend to find. And most times, we ensure to keep it clean and not get personal. But most fan clubs get offended, aggressive and abuse us. So we try to keep our profiles under cover even if we have nothing to hide.” Similarly, Bobby (name changed), an admin of the troll page ‘Troll Tollywood’ faces the brunt. 

“We support a hero when they have a good movie in the making, and we put out our disappointment when a hero’s work isn’t up to expectations. But in that we are basically offending every fan in the industry in some way or the other. They turn abusive and sometimes even get too personal. Particularly, Twitter breeds a lot of negativity due to direct connection to celebrities. It’s not out of fear as much as it’s to stay away from negativity that we stay anonymous even among ourselves.”

Motivation and opportunity
While for some it was just a vent to let out their creative frustration, for some it turned into a professional opportunity. Santosh of CAPDT says, “Now, the film industry is also encouraging of the role social media plays.

They’re using our route to get into the public’s view.” However, does it affect the objectivity of such channels? Bobby begs to differ, “Audiences have become smarter. If they see any post that seems not genuine, they would know that it was paid for. So we have to keep our content unbiased and factual to ensure our credibility. Even if we were paid for the promotion of the movie, we try to make sure we aren’t lying about the final verdict of the movie. Most times, we just talk about the positives and what worked, and leave the rest to the audience’s intellect.”

 srividya.palaparthi@newindianexpress.com  @PSrividya53