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Vanaja is a film of genre Drama directed by Rajnesh Domalpalli with Karan Singh Grover

Vanaja (2006)

Vanaja
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Length 1h51
Directed by
Genres Drama
Rating71% 3.5829153.5829153.5829153.5829153.582915

Vanaja is a 2006 Indian art house film written and directed by Rajnesh Domalpalli on a story that constituted his Master of Fine Arts thesis at Columbia University. The Telugu film was made on a shoestring budget using a cast of non-professional first-timers for two and a half months.

The film stars Mamatha Bhukya as the titular character: a 15-year-old daughter of a poor fisherman set in the backdrop of a rustic state of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India. She learns Kuchipudi, a classical Indian dance form, while being employed at a local landlady's house. All seems to be going well for her until sexual chemistry evolves between her and the landlady's son, and this eventually leads her being raped by him. The ensuing pregnancy disrupts her simple life, and she must choose how to deal with the child.

Vanaja was screened at several international festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, among others. It was nominated for the Diesel Discovery Award at the former and won the Best First Feature award at the latter. Beside this, it won several jury prizes at other film festivals, and was nominated for the Best First Feature and Best Cinematography awards at the Independent Spirit Awards. Vanaja found favour with many international critics as well. Roger Ebert ranked it among the five best foreign language films of 2007. It runs for 111 minutes in Telugu with subtitles in English.

Synopsis

Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) is the 15-year-old daughter of a poor, low caste fisherman from rural Andhra Pradesh. Her father, Somayya (Ramachandriah Marikanti), struggles to support his family due to dwindling catches at sea and mounting debts. One day, Vanaja and her teenage friend Lacchi (Bhavani Renukunta) watch a theatrical performance by a former Kuchipudi (a native classical Indian dance form) great, Rama Devi (Urmila Dammannagari). The sequence of events lead to a soothsayer predicting to Vanaja that she will be a great dancer. With permission from her father, she goes to work in the house of the local landlady Rama Devi with the hope of learning Kuchipudi. While she is employed as a farmhand, she is entrusted with tending the chickens. When she gets caught playfully chasing them, she lies to conceal her pranks. Her vivaciousness and spunk soon catch the landlady’s eye. To keep her out of trouble, Rama Devi soon promotes her to a kitchen underhand where she meets Rama Devi’s cook, the old, crusty and extremely loyal Radhamma (Krishnamma Gundimalla).

Actors

Karan Singh Grover
Trailer of Vanaja

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Source : Wikidata

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