(Vanaja)

Mamatha was born on the 14th of July 1991 in a village called Garjanapalli in Andhra to Vijaya and Bhukya Loomna Naik. She is the youngest of 6 girls in a family where her father works as a forest officer and her mother is a housewife. She was studying in the eighth grade of a Telugu medium government school when she was selected and cast in the film.

Never having learnt dance or acting before was both intimidating and a challenge, as she had to learn both within a year. Although her initial ambition was to be a doctor, given the time spent in training for the film, and the enormous amount she feels she has learnt, she is now determined to make her mark as an actress and a Kuchipudi dancer.

Her favorite scene is the one where Vanaja returns with her father to the landlady’s house begging to be taken back. Although only 15, she feels that she internalized the character of a mother so deeply that she couldn’t stop crying even well after the scene was over. It was also one of the happiest moments for her to see tears in the eyes of the watching crew. They were so moved that they couldn’t help but burst into heartfelt applause as she was led out.

(Rama Devi, the Landlady)

Urmila was born on the 25th of June 1948 in a village called Boorgula in Andhra to Ramaiah and Chandramma – both farmers. Being the youngest of 6 children, she studied until the 6th grade, after which her parents couldn’t afford her education anymore. She was married at the age of 9 to Shankaraiah - a small time Businessman in a vegetable market, with whom she had 4 children. When her husband died in 2000 leaving her little, she found work in a mineral water company as a Bottle Sealer. However, she soon had to give it up due to health problems. Desperate, she saw an ad in a newspaper for “household help” – a ploy that Rajnesh had used to attract unwary actors-to-be.

Shocked and completely taken aback when she found out the real motive of the ad, she nevertheless took on the role and the 25km commute, quickly becoming not just an assured actor, but a mother-hen to a brood of young actors in training.

(Somayya, Vanaja’s Father)

Chandraiah, as he is called, was born on the 16th of April 1945, in the village of Kamalapuram in Andhra to Marikanti Veera Swamy & Tirupamma. He was the 3rd amongst 7 children. He got married at 25 to Yenkamma, with whom he had 4 children. At an early age, he took up farming instead of going to school, but over the years lost his possessions due to mounting debt. He then began rearing ducks and trading in eggs and local ox. Unable to make ends meet, he moved family to Hyderabad, the capital, in 2001 and worked as a municipal sweeper until 2004. Following that, he eventually found work as a security guard.

His favorite scene is the one in which he acts drunk, howling to Vanaja that his boat has been taken away. He confesses that he enjoyed getting slightly drunk on the sly to make his acting more natural.

(Radhamma, the Maid)

Krishnamma was born on the 15th of June 1940 in a village named Kotta Ganji in Andhra to Ramaiah & Basamma - two hotel workers. As the eldest of 4 children she had to take on much of the responsibility of rearing her siblings while her parents worked. She was married at 9 to G.Narsiah - an agricultural laborer with whom she had 5 children. After her husband’s death, she began work as a laborer carrying baskets of bricks on her head to make ends meet.

That was when she was called in for an interview with more than 250 similar people. Her selection occurred in November 2004, barely two months before the shoot, and learning not just the dialogue, but acting as well, was a Herculean task to say the least. Her favorite scene is the one where she consoles Vanaja after the rape. She had brought chilly paste to rub into her eyes, in the fear that she wouldn’t be able to cry. When the time came, however, she became so emotionally engaged that it took half an hour to convince her that it was only a scene.

(Shekhar, Landlady’s son)

Karan was born on the 20th of Oct 1979 in a town called Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. His father worked in the army – and this necessitated that the family travel both frequently and widely in India, before eventually settling in Andhra in 1992. In Hyderabad, Karan pursued a Bachelor’s in Commerce at Wesley College and graduated in 1999 but later decided to pursue a career in modeling, working for names such as Tahiliani, Rocky S. and Rohit Bal. He won an award in the 2003 Grasim Mr. India competition, and would now like to switch into films.

(Lacchi, Vanaja’s Friend)

Bhavani was born on the 26th of April 1991 in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh to Sambamurthy and Ganga Renukunta. Her father worked as a helper in a clothes shop while her mother managed the home, and Bhavani is their youngest child amongst three. During the time of her interview at Varija Films, she was an eighth grader in a government high school in Secunderabad. She loves mathematics, and would like to pursue a career in engineering. He favorite scene is the one where she chastises Vanaja for not feeding the baby. She says that she loved mothering the child so much that the entire scene took on an especially personal meaning.

(Ram Babu, Postman)

Krishna was born Circa 1986 in the village of Narselagudem in northern Andhra to Jagan and Mangamma. Jagan worked as a well digger, but during the harvest, switched to thrashing rice. Mangamma cut paddy in the fields. Krishna began work at 10, herding goats, but when he was 12, he lost his mother to a protracted bout of T.B. His younger brother, Prabhu (who acts as Yadigiri – the brat who taunts Vanaja) was three at the time. Krishna then moved to the neighboring village of Maibad and began working in a bicycle repair shop.

Three years later, when the rains failed, Jagan moved the family to Hyderabad - the capital, and began work along with Krishna as laborers digging trenches. His entire family (father and brother) was interviewed in 2002 following which both Krishna and Prabhu acted in several of Rajnesh’s short films. His father passed away to AIDS in 2003.

(Yadigiri, Boy who teases Vanaja)

Prabhu was born Circa 1994 in Narselagudem, and is Krishna’s younger brother (see biodata above). He came with his father and brother for Varija Films’ interview, and was so shy in the beginning that he refused to look at people around him. He works with his brother now. His favorite scene is the one where he stands atop a staircase and threatens Vanaja and Ram Babu with dire consequences if they don’t do something dirty.

Producer

Latha was born in Chennai to M. Kantiraj, an Andhra and Ranjini a Mangalorean, both settled in Tamil Nadu. She spent much of her early life in Chennai, where her father worked as the Director of Agriculture of the joint state of Andhra and Tamil Nadu. After her marriage to Rajendra Kumar Domalapalli, she moved to Andhra and spent the next thirty or so years, touring the state with him. Rajnesh, the Filmmaker of “Vanaja” is her elder son, while Rakesh is her younger one.

As a mother, she has been enormously supportive of Rajnesh’s decision to switch from Computer Engineering to Filmmaking, and in the entire process of making his debut with “Vanaja”.

Writer, Director, Editor

Rajnesh Domalpalli comes from Hyderabad, in South India.

After completing a B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from the IIT Bombay in '84 and an MS from SUNY, SB in '86 he worked in the Silicon Valley before completing an MFA at Columbia University in 2006.

Vanaja was his Thesis film at Columbia's Film School.

Rajnesh has completed the Screenplay for a second feature, an environmental fable called Avani, that will be set in rural India.

His first children’s Picture Book, “Little Atreya and the Golden Orioles,” is on Amazon, while a short story called "The Dowry" was broadcast by BBC’s World Service in Sept '84 and Aug '89. College was where he was introduced to South Indian Classical Music.

He is currently working on a Fantasy Novel for young adults while splitting time between Seattle and Hyderabad.

Cinematographer

Milton Kam moved to New York from his native Suriname to pursue a fine arts education at the City College of New York where he discovered cinematography.

He has shot 10 features and over 50 short films, as well as music videos, documentaries, and spots for clients such as Canon and Coca Cola. His awards include the Kodak Vision Award for the Creative Use of Cinematography for Liesel de Boor's “Without a Name”, and the 1998 Columbia University Reel Award for Best Cinematography for Giovanni Morricone's “Photo”. He has shot the features “I Think I Do”, directed by Brian Sloan, and the family drama “ABCD”, directed by Krutin Patel. Both enjoyed theatrical runs in New York and other major cities.

Production Designer

Nagulu was born in 1970 in a village called Golanakonda in Andhra to Yadagiri & Illamma. He was the 3rd of 4 children. Due to financial constraints, he was never sent to school, and started out instead as a server in a hotel, later switching to tailoring. He was married in 1989 to Uma with whom he now has 2 children. Since tailoring wasn’t making ends meet, he joined Rajnesh’s parent’s household as a gardener and worked for 10 years. Given a sharp native intelligence, he soon became a jack of many trades and master of all – electrical work, plumbing, driving and painting to name a few.

His break came in 2002, when Rajnesh came home from Columbia during a summer vacation to shoot class projects – 10 to 12 minute video shorts. He quickly became the Production Designer, Production Manager & Driver, taking over charge of organizing everything. He also performs the role of Ram Reddy, the opposition politician, in the film.

Dance Director

Srinivas was born in Guntur on the 4th of January 1968 to the late D.Hanumantha Rao and Padmavathi. He was 6 when his father died in 1974 forcing him to discontinue his studies and fend for his family instead. He worked as a salesman for about 6 years, but when his mother died in 1990, his grandfather decided to introduce him to the Kuchipudi Arts Academy in Chennai, where he became a disciple of the renowned Dancer and Padmabhushan Award winner Dr.Vempati Chinna Satyam. He was engaged as a Dance teacher and Choreographer by Varija Films, starting in March 2004.

Editor

Robert started his career crewing for the film “Lilith” in 1964 before finding his niche as an editor. Several films later, he picked up an Oscar Nomination for Coppola’s “The Cotton Club” in 1985, before beginning to teach at the Maine Photo Workshops.

That was where he met Rajnesh who, after having created a rough cut of his thesis “Vanaja”, had registered as a student to polish it up. Robert saw the film and offered to come over to Rajnesh’s apartment and guide and mentor him though the process. Once back in New York, he did so over five days, with a sixth reserved for a review. The film you see is the finished work.

Music Director

Mr. Narayanan was born on the 29th of Dec 1948 in the town of Nagarkoil in Tamil Nadu. Since his grandfather served as the Asthana Vidwan in the Trivannathapuram King’s court, music prevailed at home. He started learning violin from Sri T.N. Krishnan – one of India’s violin maestros at the age of 7, with the help of a government scholarship. Mr. Narayanan has accompanied artists such as the late Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi, Dr. S. Pinakapani and Dr. N. Ramani – all doyen’s of the Carnatic music world on concerts in several countries. He has also accompanied Kuchipudi dancers such as Smt Radha and Sri Raja Reddy on world tours, and is known for his brilliant artistry on the violin.

Music Director

Indira Amperiani was born on the 24th of Oct 1937 in Nellore to A.V.Krishnaiah and A.V. Subbamma. Her father was a principal for a higher elementary school while her mother was a musician. She learnt music from her sister, D. Ramadevi before going on to graduate with a diploma in music in 1963. The duo performed almost 200 temple kacheris all over Andhra and Tamil Nadu as well as several Carnatic concerts for Vijayawada radio.

Apart from being Rajnesh’s music teacher, she coached Vanaja’s actors in Carnatic music and composed the song Sarasuda Jagelara.

Executive Producer

Andrew was the Legal Counsel for the film. A graduate of Columbia University where he earned J.D., M.F.A. and B.A. degrees, Andrew has written and directed five award-winning shorts, the last two of which were honored as top narrative films at the UFVA annual conference.

In addition to worldwide festival screenings and television broadcasts, his shorts are included in film textbooks, DVD compilations, and distributed theatrically and non-theatrically.

Andrew was an invaluable asset to negotiating Vanaja’s legal journey.

Indian Line Producer

Vijju, as he is called, was born on May 4th 1953 in Chennai to Rama and late Justice N. Santhosh of the Karnataka High Court. In 1956 his family shifted to Bangalore, where he did both his schooling and college at Saint Joseph’s. After graduation, he joined Binny Mills in their dye house department where he worked for 21 years. In August 2004, he started work on” Vanaja”. He also appears in the film as one of the guests in the scene where Vanaja throws up over Shekhar.

US Line Producer

Sarju attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied Film and New York University where he received his B.A. in Film and Philosophy. His short films include “The Foreigner,” “Not Dropping Cakes,” and “Incomplete”. He recently completed his directorial debut, “That Fall,” which he also Produced, Shot and Edited. “That Fall,” was accepted into the Dances with Films Festival in Los Angeles. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Production Manager

Naveen was born on June 25th 1980 to Subbarayudu, a landowner in Ananthapur and Parvati a housewife. The eldest of three children, he graduated with dual degrees in Math and an M.B.A, before beginning to work. In 2004, just when he decided to stop and prepare for a PhD, he saw a Varija Films’ ad for a tutor for its child actors – a job that he thought would be an easy time-filler.

On accepting, however, he was shocked by its completely crazy environment. Promising himself a month at most, he was surprised when he soon began to see a method to the madness, which slowly brought the film’s intent and content into focus.

During the shoot, Naveen was one of the few backbones of the film, working behind the scenes not just to move bureaucratic mountains, but to plan, schedule and execute its every need. He appears in the dinner party scene talking to Shekhar as Vanaja enters.

Assistant Director

Madhu was born in Chebrolu on the Andhra coast on 28th July 1981 to Babuji, a TV repairman and Saileela a housewife. He was the 2nd of 3 children, and did much of his schooling without venturing out of his village until his graduation as an accountant. When his brother and father died in 2003 and 2004 respectively, he moved his family to Hyderabad, the capital, where he had just found work as a salesman.

Faced with mounting responsibilities, he began looking for a new job and found one with Varija Films as a production assistant in November 2004. During his interview, Rajnesh remembers him as "a person who spoke so fast, that he couldn't have been but very intelligent." During his first week, when he kept getting sent out to do odd chores, he secretly wanted to leave. But when, one day, he happened to watch actors being trained, he changed his mind, convinced that there was more. On Vanaja, he took on tasks of script supervision, actors training, maintaining inventory, planning and scheduling. He appears as a policeman in the scene in which Shekhar is beaten.

Production Staff

Babu was born in Tuni to Pullaiah and Rajaratnam on April 9th 1969. Most of his early life was spent in and around his hometown of Tuni, but after he got married in 1996 to Mamatha, Nagulu (the lead Production Designer’s) sister, he moved to Hyderabad where he first began working filling gas cylinders, and then as a carpenter’s understudy.

In 2000, he was introduced to Rajnesh’s parents when they wanted furniture built, but soon he became involved in his short films and then Vanaja itself. He wore many hats during pre-production: while canvassing for actors, he distributed almost 50,000 pamphlets with the help of newspaper vendors and local gyms. He worked on location scouting, purchasing and setting up the Landlady’s mansion, quickly becoming a bulwark of the Production Team. He appears in the film as Mohan Rao, the man who introduces Rama Devi on stage.

Production Staff

Born in Mootakundur on 24th July 1979 to Rajalu a toddy-tapper and Sattamma a housewife, Krishna is the eldest of 3 brothers and studied until the 10th grade while working as a toddy boy in the local liquor shop.

Along with Babu and Brahmam, he initially came to Rajnesh’s parents to build furniture in 2000, and moved on to become the “Sound Man” on his short films. He was married to Sirisha in 2001 with whom he now has a son – Rajesh.

On Vanaja, he was known for his quiet, highly skilled worksmanship not only in carpentry, but in painting, scouting, planting, ageing, boom-holding, and almost anything under the sun and moon that others did not do. He is seen as the second farmhand to whom Rama Devi hands a bonus.

Production Staff

Brahmam was born on 20th July 1982 in Kollapur and was brought up by his maternal uncle, Chandriah Atigadda, a teacher and Uma, his wife. They educated him until the 9th class, but in 1997, he came to Hyderabad and began work as a carpenter’s understudy.

Along with Babu, he was introduced to Rajnesh's parents in 2000 to build furniture, but soon became involved with his short films and was known as “the twelve-year old child-prodigy-cameraman” – a rumor that Rajnesh’s classmates had spread in Columbia. For the shoot, he put together sets and worked behind the scenes in production. He is seen as the first farmhand to whom Rama Devi hands a bonus.

Production Staff

Devi, as she was popularly called, was another mother hen to the children. Juggling between them and handling costumes and props was a challenge, but she accomplished it with ease. She appears as the teacher, early on, in the film.

Supervising Sound Editor

Andrew was the brain behind cleaning up Location Sound. By training, he completed an MFA, in Film and Digital Technology, from Chatham University and a BA, in Communications, from the William Paterson University. He now teaches at the Point Park University in Pittsburgh.