Vanaja (2006)

This does contain many spoilers.VANAJA starts our with interesting promise, but it soon turns muddy and ends without telling a believable story.At first, VANAJA appears to be a nice coming-of-age story similar to SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA but with a more zippy pace mixed into an Indian classical dance movie. However, it turns away from the higher arts, and seems to want to be a matter-of-fact sex movie, then it twice tries to be a revenge movie, then it wants to be a family bonding drama, then it tries to be a movie of personal self-redemption, and then it ends as a friendship movie ignoring all of the many, many swings and motivations we have all just witnessed!There is too much unbelievable weirdness. Anyone spending years in a northern US college is not going to come home from the airport not wearing shoes. A fully mature red-blooded guy living among our many fully developed curvy and fun point-seven hip ratio college girls is simply not going to notice a 12-year-old unattractive stick figure with a face for radio. India is famous for parents actively pushing potential mates upon their children, so where in the movie are any attractive fully developed young females? There are none.And about the mailman who also very much wants this 12-year-old looking girl, why would he want her so much after she had a baby? After having someone else's baby? Are there not high school girls to chase or something? What kind of village is this?Another problem is no none in the movie displays a kind heart except for Lacchi -- whose story is never followed. She is the only attractive personality we ever meet, but this is not her story.Everyone else in this movie is dark and unattractive and lacks charm. OK, you may say, so this is a gritty dark movie. Well no, because none of the worst players are consistently bad. They do hurtful things with no realistic motivation. They do not even pretend to be kind for an evil purpose. They act randomly as if suffering with split personalities. Also, there is talk of 600,000 Indian dollars going to the poor father. This plan appears to be a done deal, but we never see any hint of how this 600,000 might have changed his life. We never see the money at all, but we do see the other side of the plan in full detail. The 600,000 just disappears forever with no explanation.Last, Vanaja does not hold and treat her baby with motherly closeness. Her neck does not grow thick as happens with pregnancy. She is such a stick figure, and the father of her baby is such a strapping male in his prime, the story makes no sense.

Winning 26 out of the 28 awards it was nominated for, there is no doubt that this film will stand as one of the best of 2007. The fact that it was made with non professionals who were trained to act and dance makes it that much more special.It is not a Bollywood production, but it is about art. A lower caste girl wants to sing and dance. She wants to move up in society, but there is a limit. Everyone cannot be President in India, there is a caste system, and the narrow minds will not allow it to be breached.Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) quits school at 15 and goes to work for the Landlady (Urmila Dammannagari), who was once an accomplished dancer. After some time working the animals, she is taught to sing and dance. The film is strikingly beautiful with rich color. It is amazing what can be done with $20,000, as this film was a Master's project for the writer director.The Landlady's son (Karan Singh) returns from America to run for office and is struck by the girl. But, she is lower caste and can only be a vessel for his lust. Things are no better at home as her father drinks and eats and steals her money. She ends up pregnant and has to sell the baby to the Landlady.In the end, she never rises above her caste, but the story was fascinating and the acting was really good.

Vanaja is a film of superlatives. It has an exceptionally well thought-out cast with Mamatha being the crowning jewel, a superb production and possibly pre-production with Rajnesh at the helm, a fantastic journey of rural Southern India through the eyes of a 15 year old, a remarkable mixture of song and dance, traditional and modern, blended perfectly, and a beautiful backdrop of lush color of the flora and fauna that make up the magnificent experience. What a towering achievement for a debut director!! The casting was absolutely dead-on. I wish India would come out with more of such films. This film will remain as one of my top favorites for my entire life. 9/10.

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.