Comments on: “Vanaja” — a Telugu Art Film in New York

By: Shreya

Shreya — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:04:36 +0000

So as the ‘Desi’ viewer from Andhra Pradesh, I had to stop by and mention that I just ran into this film and loved it. It’s such a pity that it didn’t find distributors in India – it’s about time the distributors and directors stop underestimating their audience.

For me, the best part was how authentic each one of the characters is – if you have strong ties with any small town or village in that part of Andhra Pradesh you know that’s exactly how the landlady’s maid would talk, or the landlady, fishermen or political candidates for that matter. It was great.

By: Amit

Amit — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 18:05:09 +0000

(speaking of boring artfests, I saw some Hindi movie on Sundance. I forget the name. It was made by that famous painter. It was unbearable torture. I couldnt finish it. It had a very uncommon sounding title. Maybe starting with a G. )

Gaja Gamini - M.F. Hussain's paean to Madhuri Dixit. Haven't seen it.

Saw "Vanaja" a couple of weeks ago, and it missed the mark. It came across as too muddled and unfocused. The cinematography was laudable, and the actors had some good moments, but overall, it suffered from having non-professional actors, IMO. (Many of them were people off the streets.) The director was present at the end of the show and talked a bit about the actors - seems like he was really proud of them and the work they did. If he'd spent more time on the story/screenplay and hired some professional actors, it would've turned out better. But given that this is his first film, I am hopeful. He does have potential and I'll definitely keep an eye out for his next one and wish him all the best.

By: Pravin

Pravin — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:08:12 +0000

I met Nagesh at a film festival screening in Atlanta when Hyderabad Blues was introduced. It was an interesting lil movie which showed some promise. But his problem is this - he keeps putting himself in his movies and I feel he is more awkward on camera than Shyamalan is. I will give him credit for accomplishing his dream though. I am in his age group with similar aspirations for movie making. But I have been unwilling to break free from my techie background while he did.

That Rockford movie he did was so amateurish. I did not even bother watching his other movies after that.

There have been some really good south indian movies in the past which were not only artistic but mainstream.

But you know who are the worst at Indian movie watching? - NRIs. You would think our parents generation who settled here would be more open to alternative Indian movies which are not necessarily boring artfests. (speaking of boring artfests, I saw some Hindi movie on Sundance. I forget the name. It was made by that famous painter. It was unbearable torture. I couldnt finish it. It had a very uncommon sounding title. Maybe starting with a G. ) A lot of indian movies come and go like Vanaja and Indians away from India won't do a thing to encourage their friends to watch it. It's like they miss their India so much they need to watch the trashiest shit all the time to remind them of home.

What India probably needs is for some alternative filmmaker to make a movie that breaks open to the mainstream like Pulp Fiction did in the early 90s. Of course, there will be annoying copycats. But at least there will be more variety in the knockoffs.

By: ak

ak — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 02:46:51 +0000

for all of you who have lamented the lack of (competitively) 'good' cinema, here are a few movies (incl. regional and western collaborative films) to look forward to.

By: nala

nala — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:06:33 +0000

thanks for the recommendations, will check them out! that reminds me, jagapathi babu’s movies are usually decent. he seems like a nice guy too

By: indianoguy

indianoguy — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:40:40 +0000

Sekhar Kammula's Anand and Godavari both have strong female protagonists. Same with ChandraSkehar Yeleti's films, Aithe and Anukokunda oka roju.

By: nala

nala — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:22:51 +0000

indianoguy, i don't know that many directors' names so i looked up their filmographies, and have only heard of Godavari and seen Ninne Pelladatha (though I'm guessing that was a more mainstream venture to begin with). i'm seriously beginning to think my family members are mentally deficient somehow, watching such crap and calling it good! (they said the same of Rajnikanth's Sivaji shudder) i will look into those directors' work. the stuff my parents watch, though... they still haven't completely learned how to frame different types of shots in one scene. and the 50-somethings still act as college students. that's how bad they are.

oh one commercial film I liked recently was Bommarillu. good acting, no black-and-white over-the-top villain, family-friendly moral, good songs, ORIGINAL STORYLINE (to india at least... 'free-spirited girl loosens up frigid guy' has been done a million and one times in Hollywood, plus of course it added the family angle in the Indian version), the female character actually matters! and has a personality! etc.

By: indianoguy

indianoguy — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:55:02 +0000

the synopsis doesn't sound very family-friendly either (though honestly i would never ever take my kids to see most telugu movies anyway... such violent, sexist crap with shady morals-of-the-story to boot).

I kinda agree with you, but there are some decent movies compensating for the crappy ones. BTW, Tollywood is a prolific film industry, it pops out almost as many movies as Bollywood does. Thats the basic problem with commercial cinema. Whether it is Hollywood, Bollywood or Tollywood..90% of the movies are crap!

because that's what most commercial telugu movies are... crap. the recent one that's been getting a lot of buzz is Yamadonga.

ha ha..lucky me..I missed that one, I sensed it would suck big time.

still waiting for gender relations in telugu movies that make me not want to poke my eyes out

There are loads of films in the past, which dealt with caste/class issues and gender equality. In the present lot, I think ChandraSekhar Yeleti, Sekhar Kammula and Krishna Vamsy make socially relevant films (within mainstream commercial cinema).

By: nala

nala — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:24:16 +0000

oh yeah my main beef with Yamadonga was that it was SO.GODDAMN.SEXIST. and blatantly objectifying. i know, i shouldn't be surprised, but this movie just took it to a whole new low. uggggh still waiting for gender relations in telugu movies that make me not want to poke my eyes out it's ironic considering that the south (or at least andhra pradesh) generally never had as much of an entrenched macho-man-patriarchy as the north did, i believe.

By: nala

nala — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:19:16 +0000

looks interesting, i may check it out this weekend. must send the info to my former kuchipudi teacher... i wonder if she's heard about it yet from any other sources? (ohh btw Saagara Sangamam is pretty much a must-see, as has been mentioned) 'cos honestly, most NRIs don't wanna see stuff like this. my mom and her friend had no idea what i was talking about when i brought it up, and they're both verrrry involved with the telugu community around here. perhaps mr. domalpalli (hah! such a telugu name!) could use some better advertising (though it seems that it's screening pretty well anyway). the other thing is, this is a 'serious' movie dealing with serious issues (a.k.a. reality) about stuff that's wrong in Indian society that most NRIs don't want to deal with--they'd rather talk about how great India is becoming, especially with the high-tech boom in Hyderabad, blah blah blah. the synopsis doesn't sound very family-friendly either (though honestly i would never ever take my kids to see most telugu movies anyway... such violent, sexist crap with shady morals-of-the-story to boot).

the sad part is, my mother (and assorted relatives and family friends) would call themselves TOTAL movie buffs. i think it's sad, that my mother has seen that many crappy movies in her life. because that's what most commercial telugu movies are... crap. the recent one that's been getting a lot of buzz is Yamadonga. I had the privilege (not) of seeing it, and umm while it is different in terms of the use of old-school Telugu dialogues, 'period' sets and costumes for part of the movie, special effects, etc., I was waiting for the movie to be over for most of it. (My parents loved it though.) Also, can this actor not make a single damn movie without invoking his grandfather's name?! (NTR, a classic)