Online personalities Harsha Chemudu and Sabarish Kandregula, who run the massively popular YouTube channel called Viva, exemplify the importance of making a career in a field which one is passionate about.
Harsha and Sabarish, both childhood friends, shared a common love of short films and aspired to a career in this field. However, they parted ways at the age of 17 in order to pursue higher education.
Learning curve
Both of them worked as engineers after their graduation until a point when they decided to quit their jobs to pursue their dream of making short films. This was when they decided to come up with a short film titled ‘The Viva’, which went on to make ripples on the internet, gifting the two friends an immense fan following that is rising with each passing day.
Today, Harsha and Sabarish run the famous YouTube channel called ‘VIVA’ which has over one million subscribers. A Mumbai-based production house company called ‘Culture Machine’ is leading their channel which contains a plethora of comical web series and short films.
“With the growth of digital media, making short films has become much easier. Earlier, making short films was considered a hobby but now one can turn it into a promising career. With the help of social media and YouTube, one can create his/her own audience in a quick span of time with quality content and hard work,” Harsha and Sabarish said.
“Through interactions with the audience, it becomes easier to understand the crowd and create content based on their likes and demands,” Sabarish said.
Delving into their thought process, the duo say a lot of hard work goes into making the short videos as they have to ensure that they sustain the interest of viewers and offer something new every time.
Advice for youth
“I suggest the youth to have both short- and long-term goals. I believe that short-term goals will gradually help you achieve your long-term goals. Try exploring until you figure out what you want to do. Learn new things and never give up. If you have a passion for this field, it will take you higher in life,” Harsha said.
“Short films are a strong platform for amateur writers, actors and directors. If you keep working on it, you will become perfect and it will act as a great voice for the youngsters,” Sabarish said.
Raghav Lanka, who is part of ‘VIVA’, says that working for the YouTube channel has opened up avenues for him in the film industry. Sahebe Subramanyam, Nenu Local, Ayina Ishtam Nuvvu, Netra are some of the Tollywood movie projects Raghav Lanka has worked for. “Web series have become a trend these days. Entertainment has turned into an industry and youngsters have a great scope in this field,” Harsha and Sabarish said.