Sivabalaji on ZEE5's Recce success: Baffled how the Telugu industry doesn't come in support of our own work

Recce, the Telugu web series that premiered on ZEE5, was a huge surprise for audiences who've been longing to watch good regional content on OTT. The rural crime thriller, written and directed by Krishna Poluru, featured Srikanth, Sivabalaji, Ester Noronha, Dhanya Balakrishna, Rajashree Nair, Saranya Pradeep and Aadukalam Naren in key roles. The show, set in the 90s, is about how a man employs four henchmen to kill a rural leader in Tadipatri. The success meet of the show was organised in Hyderabad yesterday.

Speaking at the event, Sivabalaji said, "I thank ZEE5 for hosting a success meet for Recce. I've been receiving calls from my media friends, who've spoken highly about the show and also gave us great reviews. More than actors or technicians, we've succeeded like a team. I congratulate all my cast, crew. Krishna Poluru is a fine director and he was full of joy whenever I performed my scene, moulding me and bringing my best. The cinematographer Ram K Mahesh is quick with his work and readied everything for his shot at the drop of the hat. His work was excellent."

"Sriram Maddury's background score was wonderful and the way he projected characters with negative shades through his music was refreshing. Since the beginning we felt that the re-recording would be the show's lifeline and you proved it today. I was in awe of my co-actors right during the shoot, be it Ester, Sriram or Sammeta Gandhi, he further added, showering praise on his Recce team.

Discussing how piracy has begun to affect OTT too, he stated, "Yesterday, one of my neighbours happened to watch the show on a pirated site. I thought piracy was an issue only with films but it has now spread to the web space too. One hardly pays Rs 50 to acquire a subscription and gets to watch abundant content. Artistes, technicians can't survive if audiences don't respect our work. A lot of effort went into Recce and to earn the approval of ZEE5. I have no words to say, I am disappointed and will leave it to your judgement."

Highlighting the need to respect one another's work in the industry, Sivabalaji opined, "Telugu audiences are the first to appreciate good films or projects regardless of any language and show our love through tweets, reels. However, I haven't seen a single tweet from any one from the industry or any show of support for Recce. I am baffled to see how we don't come in support of our own work. Watch Recce, recommend it to people, encourage our efforts and I'm saying this not for myself but also for many projects that are to release in the future."