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''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 title 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. == Plot == 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). After settling down at the landlady's house, Vanaja gets invited to play a game of ashta chamma (a leisurely game in rural towns of Andhra Pradesh) against the landlady. Knowing that losing isn’t the mistress’s forte, she deliberately gives up her game. This gesture, in turn, eventually secures her the landlady’s mentorship, first in music and then in dance. Vanaja excels at these art forms and seems to be on a steadily ascending path until the arrival of Shekhar (Karan Singh), the landlady's 23-year-old son, from the United States. Shekhar is a handsome, muscular young man who is running for an office in the local government. Sexual chemistry is ignited between Shekhar and Vanaja (still a minor at 15) when flirtation and sexual innuendo bloom. In the meanwhile, her father's fishing boat is taken away by creditors. He sinks into a state of sadness and begins to drink away their savings. On one occasion, Vanaja’s superior intellect pits her against Shekhar in a public incident which ultimately humiliates him in front of his mother. Matters escalate, and one day Vanaja is raped by Shekhar. She eventually loses her job when she becomes pregnant. She gives birth to a boy, much against Rama Devi’s wishes who would have liked her to abort the foetus. Vanaja hopes that the physical evidence of the child will be proof of the rape and that somehow Shekhar will be brought to justice. However, Shekhar has no desire to marry Vanaja because she is from a lower caste. In the end Rama Devi and Shekhar gain possession of the child, who will grow up to be an upper caste boy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vanaja (film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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