Vanaja

"Vanaja" is well done and the first-time director (Rajnesh Domalpalli) apparently made the film for his masters degree! This is very impressive and he showed an amazing deftness for such an inexperienced director! However, while I did appreciate the great work done to make this film, I must warn you that this is an incredibly depressing film--mostly because the value of woman in many places in the world still is minimal. In this story, a young girl, Vanaja, is horribly mistreated and while you know such things happen, it sure is sad to watch.

The film begins with Vanaja about 15 years-old. However, to me she only appeared about 11 or perhaps 12--and this made the story a bit more disturbing because she looked so much like a child. But long before this, we see the girl go to work for a local rich landlady. Vanaja has spirit--she's spunky but likable and soon the rich lady takes her under her wing and teaches Vanaja to dance. Vanaja has a real passion and talent for dancing and you assume through the course of the film she'll rise to greatness. However, while this could happen, the film instead centers on he immediate life--and it sure gets pretty bad. But, as I don't want to ruin the film for you, I'll say no more and just encourage you to see it.

I think this is an important film in the way it documents the devaluation of women as well as the evils of classism. So, from an academic sense, it's well worth seeing. However, it's anything but a feel-good picture--and will most likely depress you--especially because it doesn't end on a particularly satisfying note. But, of course, in real life this IS often the case.

The Great Beauty

Film : Vanaja Director : @rajnesh_d Dop : Milton Kam Music : Indhira Amperianeni Bhaskara S Narayanan Cast : Mamatha Bhukya Urmila Bhavani Renikunta Karan Singh Krishnamma Rama chandraih

#Vanaja face of freshness and delight !! A timeless beauty which unfolding against an class exploitation that sadly stands still in India !It screened at over 100 film festivals in 49 countries and won 24 international awards 2 nominations.

The line was inspired by child scream being separated from his mom in #sophieschoice but later he stated a study of class distinctions and fading institutions of folk art, old buildings that are collapsing, things which we should be protecting - which are a part of our heritage. Speaking of the need for preservation of Indian culture and heritage, he said that making the film was an opportunity to emphasise the Indian folk arts, too.

#mamathabhukya right combination of intelligence, commitment and talent as well. Her act was touching and believable !

#rajneshdomalpalli gives a detailed sense of place and shows a mastery of story telling.With the help of colors of saris and room decorations, the dazzle of dance costumes and the dusty landscapes,hills and vistas, its oxen and elephants,houses, boat settings.Praise his guts to breaking stereotypes on those days that too new Comer's not with professional actors ! And I loved it the way he Started film with BurraKatha !

#miltonkam was made using natural lighting situations, the colour and saturation quality was excellent. His frames explores,evokes village life with stark authenticity !

Great to see the film in telugu and 16 mm aspect ratio, renowned Carnatic music !

"Vanaja" depicts a spirited 14-year-old rural South Indian girl who possesses an uncanny common sense intelligence which she puts to use to try to improve the lot of herself and her poor fisherman father. Writer, director, and co-editor Rajnesh Domalpalli wrote the story as part of a first semester project at Columbia University and completed it as his thesis for a Master of Fine Arts in Film.

The film highlights the plight of the working poor, an unfortunately universally understood situation of hard work concomitant with escalating debt and a systematic lack of control over many aspects of one's life. Filmed in Andhra Pradesh, lead Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) and other villagers are vassals of landlady Rama Devi (Urmila Dammannagari). Her natural self-confidence boosted by a prophecy that she will be an accomplished dancer, Vanaja secures household employment with Rama Devi to help pay the father's debts, as well as to see if she can manage to get some dance lessons.

Things seem to be going well when the landlady's son, Shekhar (Karan Singh) returns from the United States, groomed to run for local politics. His unhealthy attraction to Vanaja proves an overpowering match for her innocent strength. The outrageously common mentality of blame and shame foisted on a victimized woman is somewhat mitigated when the landlady comes to understand the resulting situation and confronts Shekhar. There is an uneasy truce after the baby is born with Vanaja sometimes returning for work. In interests of quelling political innuendo, Vanaja's father is paid a hefty bribe and the baby is to be brought up in the comfort of Rama Devi's home.

The remaining narrative, though somewhat predictable, is interesting and driven by the lead character's strong willpower. One leaves the film feeling muted sadness, desiring that opportunity and social mobility can quickly permeate and make the study of caste purely a historical one.

My own appreciation of the film was greatly enhanced by having access to a press kit, including a beautifully presented booklet about the film. For example, I learned that one of the many challenges in making the film was finding talent among common people; placing ads just wouldn't work as the crew were already being rumored to be after stealing organs and body parts. So they placed ads for household help, such as "female, aged 35 to 50, needed to care for elderly parents" and gauged potential among respondents. Urmila Dammannagari, for example, married at age 9 and a widow with four children, was working as a bottle sealer for a while but unemployed when she saw the ad; "shocked and completely taken aback when she found out the real motive of the ad, she nevertheless took on the role" of the landlady "and the 25km commute, quickly becoming not just an assured actor, but a mother-hen to a brood of young actors in training".

The film owes a lot to the excellent and very natural acting of the lead, Mamatha Bhukya. Just as Ms. Dammannagari came into her aristocratic role so surprisingly smoothly, so did Ms. Bhukya, who had no dance or acting background. In fact, the film changed her ambition from that of being a doctor to pursuing acting and Kuchipudi dance.

I found all but one of the actors to be quite convincing, and am awed knowing of their very simple backgrounds. Karan Singh, however, a Wesley College-educated model, delivered a disappointing performance. His sneering, detached aloofness was not realistic, and his entire character as heir apparent seemed totally unfounded by any political ability. I also found the editing at times to be somewhat abrupt; continuity would have been enhanced with the use of recurring motifs or more of a soundtrack.

Vanaja is not a feel-good film and is not suited for children or perhaps teenagers. While it has its flaws, it is a remarkable film in the context of the local "actors" used and their magnificent performances, as well as considering that this is a thesis. I look forward to seeing future films that Rajnesh Domalpalli, IIT-Mumbai computer engineer turned artist who divides his time between New York and his hometown of Hyderabad, may create.

Vanaja's U.S. premiere is August 31 in New York. A DVD as well as musical soundtrack are expected to be released in 2008.

This was his master's thesis project at the film department of Columbia university ... and the total cost of making of this movie was only $20,000.... the protagonist was an 8th grader girl back then with zero experience in acting... and the movie won numerous awards and got recognition... dark side of the life .. exploration of low caste girls, slow-paced but great deftness by the director and superb performance by MAmtha Bhukya who was only 14 then...

This is not your typical Indian film. There is some great sense of humanity, and the characters are pretty realistic. There is great dynamism in the interpersonal relationships, and there is a sense of guilt, grief, passion, passivity among the many characters. While seeing this, one gets a feel for the heavy burden of the 5000 years of layers and layers of history of social existence of one of the oldest civilizations. The final scene of an elephant walking away in the rural area was a great footnote to such a ancient civilization, and yet, human relations are still preserved and nurtured. Saw it on DVD, the two interviews with the director and the main actress are very interesting. Was surprised to learn that the movie has not done well (or not being shown) in India (... but maybe not too surprised). The artistic patrimony of rural societies is being slowly lost and its inheritance not picked up by younger generations, as some of the older musicians in the movie are no longer living today. Great film.