S3L, the acronym for Sandeep, Satya, Sulochana, and Lalitha, is an energetic group of young YouTubers, who are putting Visakhapatnam on the virtual map through their music videos.
As we walk into Anusudhaa Studios, this bubbly group is all smiles. To know that these four started a musical group, that has seven videos, 69K subscribers, and lakhs of views in a short span of five months brings us pride. Here is their story.
Talent meets talent
Sandeep Reddy and Satya Kundem met at the state-level contest of ‘Singer of the Year 2017’ and both finished as winners. Manjusha Sulochana is a classical dancer and singer. The trio participated in many events independently such as Bol Baby Bol, ETV Muqabla etc. Lalitha Peri who comes from a family of classical singers met Satya when she participated in their college’s rock fest. With each being independently gifted, their coming together combines their strengths.
And it all began
It all started with Sandeep who would make videos and mashups on his phone. He contacted Satya, and soon others joined in. They first tried reaching out to established channels to showcase their videos but were turned down. “We then went the whole way and put up our first video online in June 2017.” They got a thousand views on the very first day and were thrilled. They next started putting up more videos and monetizing on them too.
The guiding forces
Suman Vankara is a name mutual for all of them. He is the person who got them together. They express that much of the credit for music goes to him and the team of Surya Chandu, editor, and Lokesh, DOP, who brainstorm, give inputs and also make them look good on screen. Their parents too have been very supportive, often shuttling them between practice and shows.
The scene today
They share with pride that the highest viewership has gone up and that they really didn’t expect such a response. It’s been a great journey, and they have fun every minute. The video takes a day to shoot followed by the audio recording. Balancing this passion with studies isn’t tough for them. They often bring their books to the studio, they tell us.
Different strokes
Talking about each other’s peculiarities brings a round of laughter and giggles. The girls share how Sandeep is always playing pranks on them. “He’ll call us one fine day and seriously tell us that – you are eliminated from the group.” Satya, who has many fans, has gained a lot of popularity with the ladies, they share. “He gets so involved in the video, that he suddenly stops singing and starts dancing”, they add. The boys are not deterred and they add how the girls just go shopping for every mashup. “All they need is an excuse”, they add.
The future scale
Sandeep has performed with Shreyas Media and Kumari 21F audio launch. The group’s recent performance was at the audio launch of ‘Raja The Great’. “Sandeep shared about ‘Raja The Great’ with us a day before and we thought he was playing a prank.” When they finally knew that this was for real, they had to prepare over Skype as Sandeep was in Bangalore. It was their first live telecast and they were much appreciated for their mashup of Ravi Teja’s songs. “Expect four of us as playbacks soon” shares Sulochana talking about the future. There will also be more mashups and private albums, and they’ll soon be seen in the audio launch of a new movie with Allu Sirish.
A lot of love, laughter, support, and enthusiasm are the recipe for the success of these talented YouTubers. Blessed with beautiful voices and high energy, this group is on a roll, and we wish them bigger and better things to come.
Here’s one of their videos for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eWRZqS_fF8
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