Film-crazy techies run riot on the Net

Abhijit Dev Kumar

Spoofs of Telugu movies on youtube turn super hits

Hyderabad: Who doesn’t like a parody? For thousands of techies from Andhra Pradesh working abroad, making spoofs of Telugu movies seems to be the favourite pastime.

Don’t believe it? Then just log onto youtube.com and …search for spoof episodes on even movies like Mahesh Babu’s super hit ‘Pokiri’.

పోకిరి పండుగాడు (Pokiri Pandugadu)

‘Pokiri Pandugadu Spoof- ‘Yes’ AP Consultant’ is the most popular one which registered more than 2,34,090 hits in the last nine months. The spoof takes on a software firm that is hell bent on employing a SAP consultant who happens to be our very own ‘Pandugadu’.

The less than five-minute clip parodies Mahesh Babu, a mercenary in the movie. ‘Pandugadu’ plays the role of the protagonist, but he is the ‘mercenary’ SAP professional who is to be hired by the software company. Interlaced with some shots of the original movie, the clips have become so popular that there are sequels too. “The idea is to make people laugh and relieve them of stress even it is for a few minutes,” Vijay Prabhu, director of the Pokiri spoof told The Hindu over phone. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Vijay has made a series of spoofs on the movie but underlying messages in the series talk about prevailing working conditions of Indians in the United States.

‘Desi’ flavour

Indian students from Purdue University have their own production house. Remakes of Telugu movies with a bit of the ‘desi’ flavour got them several hits on the site, which is quite a hit among students here. Spoofs on films like ‘Athadu’, ‘Gudumba Shankar’, ‘Narashimudu’, ‘Dil’, ‘Anandam’ and ‘Indra’ have been laugh riots.

Some satires take a serious note on the existing problems that Indians face in the West. One such movie is ‘ACF- Tagore Spoof’, that talks about the way Indian consulting business agencies in the United States operate. “It’s a platform for upcoming filmmakers to showcase their talent. Taking movies and making them into comedies is simply amazing. All my friends have seen these movies. The important thing is that they give simple messages which we tend to overlook,” says Apurva Raghotam, a film student at OU.

These parodies may not be hitting the 70 mm screens. But they are a sure hit among Netizens across the world. Lights, camera, spoofs!

Courtesy: The Hindu