Quite frankly, I love my voice," says Pavani Kotrike and immediately bursts into a peal of laughter. This is her answer when we ask her what propelled her to get into podcasting. And if you are an avid listener of Telugu podcasts, you already know who we are talking about. The host of Telugu Kathalu by Pavani and Pavani Tho Kaburlu, Pavani is a baby when it comes to the world of podcasting - she got into it only in June 2020 — but if there was ever a quick learner, it's her. "I actually started with Neethi Kathalu (Moral Stories) which I expanded to Telugu Kathalu by Pavani, casting wide my net for the kind of stories that I could narrate," says the 27-year-old. She proceeded to crowdsource stories, asking her followers to send her stories that she would go on to feature on her podcast.
Under Telugu Kathalu by Pavani, there are two series that have been a super hit — Ye Maya Chesave that had a run of 18 episodes and Matrimonial Love of which eleven episodes are out and a new one drops every Wednesday. "For me, there is nothing like a good love story," Pavani says with the same candour that we have come to expect and adore. No wonder the ongoing series Matrimony Love has a combined listenership of 500K and counting! On that note, if you ever meet Pavani, you have to ask her about her own love story. It's her own love life that was the inspiration behind the series, which is a sweet melody of love stories that are six to 12 minutes long.
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"The first episode I recorded for my podcast took me two hours and the episode itself was just five minutes long! You can imagine what a mess the pre-production was. But with the help of the Telugu podcasting community and the Anchor app, I learnt everything," explains Pavani who has a BSc in Statistics from St Joseph's Degree & PG College. So what's the secret behind cracking it, we ask curiously. "Read the script once or twice before recording it, keep it natural and, most importantly, feel the words," shares the Kurnool-born.
This is what gave her the confidence to launch Pavani Tho Kaburlu in March 2021, the format of which is more easy-going. "I chit-chat, talk about my favourite songs, review movies, it's all just conversations," says the chirpy youngster who is based out of Hyderabad. The first episode was on International Women's Day and the response has been pretty good, they have a total listenership of 30K. "What makes my podcasts really click is that my listeners feel that there is someone talking directly to them," says Pavani who is also a self-taught artist! She takes up commissioned artwork on the side and has done over 500 of them. Talk about multi-talented!
