PremiumAthidhi on OTT: Not Venu Thottempudi but this Kannada star was the first choice for the horror thriller
The director revealed that the original was to make Athidhi as a big-screen feature
Last Updated: 11.03 PM, Sep 16, 2023
Athidhi, Disney+ Hotstar’s upcoming Telugu show, is gearing up for its OTT premiere on September 19. Venu Thottempudi makes his digital debut with the show that features Avantika Mishra, Aditi Gautam as female leads. The horror thriller is helmed by YG Bharath while Praveen Sattaru is the showrunner. Ahead of its release, two episodes of the show were screened for the media today.
Post the screening, the cast and crew of the show fielded several questions from scribes. Reportedly, Athidhi wasn’t intended to be a web series, until the makers approached Disney+ Hotstar. Venu shared that the director YG Bharath ran from pillar to post to get the project on floors. The maker added how he approached producers across multiple industries, had to wait long before tasting some luck.
That’s not all - when the director viewed Athidhi as a feature, his first choice wasn’t Venu Thottempudi but Kannada star Upendra (a proposal that couldn’t go further). However, when it was decided that the script should be approached for a streamer, his only choice was Venu. He felt the idea would strike a chord among audiences if the project had unconventional casting.
For the same reason, Athidhi, spanning six episodes, has a runtime that’s just over 150 minutes. Yet YG Bharath shares that he’s given a decent hook leading to a second season (if it’s greenlit). Ravi Varma, Venkatesh Kakumanu, Bhadram, Chanakya Teja, Gayatri Chaganti, Pooja essay other crucial roles in the web series, which the makers claim, can be watched by audiences sans inhibitions.
Venu, in the press meet, admitted that a major chunk of the show’s credit needs to be given to cinematographer Manojh Katasani for his attention to detail. Kapil Kumar scored the music for the show edited by Dharmendra Kakarala. Sahi Suresh is the art director and Rajesh Dasari is the executive producer.