Telugu remake of FLAMES titled Taragathi Gadhi Daati on aha soon - Why is TVF going for another remake?

Telugu OTT platform aha had announced a new show, Taragathi Gadhi Daati, the previous weekend, the official remake of TVF's hit Hindi teenage romance FLAMES. Directed by Mallik Ram, the show stars Harshith Reddy, Nikhil Devadula, Payal Radhakrishna and Bindu Chandramouli in key roles. This is the popular production house TVF's second show in Telugu, after Pavan Sadineni's Commitmental that was released in 2020, also a remake of the romantic comedy Permanent Roommates. Why would a reputed production house like TVF go on a remake spree with a market as promising as Telugu? This is a billion-dollar question that only they may have an answer for.

Though the Telugu digital space enjoys a good audience base across the globe, it's a pity that only a handful of shows in the language have stood out for their content over three years into the evolution of the market - Gods of Dharmapuri, Kudi Yedamaithe, Mail to name a few. The more obvious void across Telugu web originals is the absence of stories rooted in their regional setting or that throw light on the life of people across the Telugu states authentically (barring a few examples like Mail and Kotha Poradu). Most Telugu shows are thrillers or fictional fantasies that provide instant gratification but don't enjoy a great shelf life. We hold our heads high while talking about the culture and literature of the land though none of it has found adequate representation in Telugu shows to date.

Well, what's the TVF connection here, then? The very fact that they are yet again telling the same story in two languages. There's no effort to understand what the Telugu audience needs and all that TVF is looking at is a mere replication of a success formula. While film remakes cater to a different audience across theatres in different regions, what's the point of remaking an OTT show when an audience may watch it in the original version with subtitles? Even with Commitmental on aha, it was obvious that the team wasn't provided much liberty to lend a new spin to Permanent Roommates for the Telugu audiences. 

We ask this question to TVF because they have proved to be content creators of good taste and it would've been apt for the brand to establish themselves in the Telugu market with a show that's more relevant to audiences than merely rehashing their old content. Though it's too early to judge Taragathi Gadhi Daati before its release, it'll be ideal for TVF to relook at its content strategy for the regional markets. After all, audiences would want to find characters and situations in shows they would relate to and it's time that Telugu OTTs provide them with content that mirrors their life.