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Latha R. Domalapalli

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”.

Rajnesh Domalpalli

Rajnesh Domalpalli comes from Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh in South India. He was born in Chennai, but spent his childhood in small rural towns associated with dam construction projects where his father worked as a civil engineer for the Andhra government.

After completing his B. Tech in EE from the IIT Mumbai in 1984 and an MS from SUNY, SB in 1986 he worked as a Computer Engineer in California’s Silicon Valley before deciding to take up Film at Columbia University in New York and graduating with an MFA in 2006.

“Vanaja” is not only his first Feature but also his Thesis at Columbia. Rajnesh loves writing, and feels that it is the greatest challenge in making a good film. While at the IIT, he had dabbled in penning short stories during his spare time, and one of these, “The Dowry” was eventually picked up and broadcast by BBC’s World Service in Sept 1984 and Aug 1989. College was also where he was introduced to South Indian classical music on the veena, before following it up with several years of training in the vocal tradition.

Rajnesh’s other passions are photographing with friends in the California Sierras and wildlife.  He currently lives in New York and Hyderabad. (more...)

Srinivas Devarakonda

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.

Robert Q. Lovett

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.

Andrew Lund

Andrew Lund, a filmmaker and entertainment attorney, is an Assistant Professor in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College – CUNY.  In addition to “Vanaja,” he is the executive producer of the independent features “Confess,” currently in distribution, and “Arranged” which filmed in New York this August.  Lund also serves as legal advisor on narrative and documentary film projects and as a script consultant.

As a writer and director, Lund’s short films have won numerous awards at film festivals around the world, appeared on PBS, ABC and major networks in Europe and Japan, and are distributed both theatrically and non-theatrically.  His latest films have garnered prestigious grant support, including “Snapshot” currently playing on the festival circuit and “Lost and Found” now in post-production.

Sarju Patel

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.

Vijay Santhosh

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.

Nagulu Busigampala

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.

Indira Amperiani

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.

Bhaskara S. Narayanan

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.