new film: "vanaja"

tacita · Sep 1st, 2007, 01:40

the film "vanaja", in telugu, and directed by rajnesh domalopalli, is opening this weekend in new york. has anyone seen it? it looks sumptuous!

http://www.vanajathefilm.com/

Rama · Sep 1st, 2007, 04:46

Looks like a very interesting movie. Too bad only a very select few will have a chance to see it in the theatres.

Taken from the official forum (response by the film maker):

Q: Will i find a DVD or something in the stores?

A: We're Releasing the Film Theatrically in the US Starting on Aug 31st 2007. A few months after that, the DVD and a CD with the Sound Track will become available... perhaps early in 2008.

tacita · Sep 10th, 2007, 10:00

i rounded out an indo-immersion weekend of a day in little india yesterday (bhel puri, dosas, thalis, bengali sweets, paan, bangles, bindis and incense), and home made bhel puri today, with an evening film, the recently opened "vanaja", a flawed but good film with positively riveting dance sequences. were the film 15 minutes shorter, i'd probably have found it "engrossing", as well--it was for the most part.

i enjoyed the film most for its dance sequences and its authenticity, manifest in a thousand gestures, facial expressions, tones of voice. none of the actors were pros, which both adds and detracts from the film. but i loved every ganesha, musical instrument, dance step, sari, lunghi, elephant, turn of the grinding stone, bicycle, tea tray and bare foot... the film was transporting, and if you miss india, vanaja may well make you ache for it.

anecdotally, i found myself smiling with each character's personal version of the head-wobble, the best of which belongs, IMHO, to the heroine's father; the most inscrutable, to the housekeeper; and the most sweetly charming, to vanaja herself.

urmila dammannagari, who plays the local landlady, delivers a stellar performance; the beefcake model who plays her son emphatically does not. (but after seeing him in all his glory, women viewers may find it in themselves to forgive him.)

the director was on hand to introduce his film and his delightful, precocious young star, mamatha bhukya. she was 13 when the project began and had never danced a step or so much as acted out a skit. the film was the director's thesis project for his MA at columbia; he wrote the piece for first-semester project. Q and A followed the screening.

the reviewers have touched both ends of the spectrum. i won't say yet where i fall along the spectrum--i don't want to be a spoiler. but i look forward to discussing it here when other have seen it.

wonderwomanusa · Sep 10th, 2007, 12:24

Here's the website for the film: http://www.vanajathefilm.com/?gclid=...NNYAodSVd A1Q

I'll see it after Friday, when it opens here.

Hyderabadi · Sep 10th, 2007, 19:53

The movie is based in rural Andhra Pradesh and is being shown in various places in the US. Some good reviews too. Hope to watch it on 12th OCT in Atlanta!
http://www.vanajathefilm.com/index.html

http://www.vanajathefilm.com/Images&...0RD%20Scan.jpg

Synopsis from www.vanajathefilm.com

Quote:

Set in rural South India, a place where social barriers are built stronger than fort walls, VANAJA explores the chasm that divides classes as a young girl struggles to come of age.

Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) is the 14 year-old daughter of a poor, low caste fisherman, struggling with dwindling catches and mounting debt. When a sooth-sayer predicts that she will be a great dancer one day, she goes to work in the house of the local landlady, Rama Devi (Urmila Dammannagari), in hopes of learning Kuchipudi dance while earning a keep.

She is hired as a farmhand, and her vivacious ways and spunk soon catch the landlady’s eye: when she is entrusted with tending the chicken, she’s caught, instead, chasing them into a general pandemonium, and lying unabashedly to conceal her pranks. To keep her out of trouble, Rama Devi promotes her to a kitchen underhand, where she comes up against the old, crusty and extremely loyal Radhamma (Krishnamma Gundimalla) – Rama Devi’s cook.

It isn’t long before Vanaja gets herself invited to play a game of ashta chamma against Rama Devi. Seeing that losing isn’t the mistress’s forte, Vanaja deliberately gives up her game – a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed - and which eventually secures her the landlady’s mentorship – first in music, and then in dance. Vanaja excels at the art, and seems to be on a steadily ascending path when Shekhar (Karan Singh), Rama Devi’s 23 year old son – handsome, muscular and rather insecure, returns from the US to run for local political elections.

Sexual chemistry is ignited between Shekhar and Vanaja (still a minor at 15), as flirtation and innuendo bloom. But, the situation suddenly turns ugly when Vanaja’s superior intellect pits her against Shekhar in a public incident which ultimately humiliates him in front of his mother. Matters escalate, spiraling downwards and she is pitched into a tale of class, family and animus from which there is only one escape.

Sep 1st, 2007, 01:40	#1
tacita Maha Mutant Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Gotham Posts: 1,410	new film: "vanaja" the film "vanaja", in telugu, and directed by rajnesh domalopalli, is opening this weekend in new york. has anyone seen it? it looks sumptuous! http://www.vanajathefilm.com/ __________________ Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. ~Helen Keller

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Sep 1st, 2007, 04:46	#2
Rama Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Ayodhya Posts: 71	Looks like a very interesting movie. Too bad only a very select few will have a chance to see it in the theatres. Taken from the official forum (response by the film maker): Q: Will i find a DVD or something in the stores? A: We're Releasing the Film Theatrically in the US Starting on Aug 31st 2007. A few months after that, the DVD and a CD with the Sound Track will become available... perhaps early in 2008.

Sep 10th, 2007, 10:00	#3
tacita Maha Mutant Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Gotham Posts: 1,410	i rounded out an indo-immersion weekend of a day in little india yesterday (bhel puri, dosas, thalis, bengali sweets, paan, bangles, bindis and incense), and home made bhel puri today, with an evening film, the recently opened "vanaja", a flawed but good film with positively riveting dance sequences. were the film 15 minutes shorter, i'd probably have found it "engrossing", as well--it was for the most part. i enjoyed the film most for its dance sequences and its authenticity, manifest in a thousand gestures, facial expressions, tones of voice. none of the actors were pros, which both adds and detracts from the film. but i loved every ganesha, musical instrument, dance step, sari, lunghi, elephant, turn of the grinding stone, bicycle, tea tray and bare foot... the film was transporting, and if you miss india, vanaja may well make you ache for it. anecdotally, i found myself smiling with each character's personal version of the head-wobble, the best of which belongs, IMHO, to the heroine's father; the most inscrutable, to the housekeeper; and the most sweetly charming, to vanaja herself. urmila dammannagari, who plays the local landlady, delivers a stellar performance; the beefcake model who plays her son emphatically does not. (but after seeing him in all his glory, women viewers may find it in themselves to forgive him.) the director was on hand to introduce his film and his delightful, precocious young star, mamatha bhukya. she was 13 when the project began and had never danced a step or so much as acted out a skit. the film was the director's thesis project for his MA at columbia; he wrote the piece for first-semester project. Q and A followed the screening. the reviewers have touched both ends of the spectrum. i won't say yet where i fall along the spectrum--i don't want to be a spoiler. but i look forward to discussing it here when other have seen it.

Sep 10th, 2007, 12:24	#4
wonderwomanusa Maha Guru Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Northern California Posts: 2,996	Here's the website for the film: http://www.vanajathefilm.com/?gclid=...NNYAodSVd A1Q I'll see it after Friday, when it opens here.

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