Its a movie I could have easily missed – it has classic ingredients for cinematic ‘art-film’ repulsion. The DVD cover has a child star in a south Indian dance pose, from which we can easily construct the story… "a poor girl from a disadvantaged background (lower cast and/or no father 6 sisters) follows her dream…taking dance classes (against xyz odds) to win in a national dance contest (or becomes celebrity dancer) … like one of those crossover films pushing classical arts for international awards.

This one won many awards too. For 2007, it was nominated for ‘Best First Feature’ - I got the DVD in mail – with a polite note for my vote. I usually get turned off by pushy marketing (like FoxSearchLight’s Juno) – I reluctantly popped in the DVD…..

The title character, Vanaja (Mamata Bhukya) was brilliant – she carried the movie on her tiny shoulders. Vanaja’s eyes ‘sparkle’, she carries this bright aura around her – an aura of arrogance, brilliance & naughiness…. a complex little character, sometimes difficult to understand – but always interesting.

The movie is miles away from any typical garish Telugu film you’ve ever seen – this will shock your system if you thought ‘Hyderabad Blues’ was your typical indie movie. As you marvel at its raw portrayal of daily rural life, you just wonder if the village people knew if there is a camera around or if it  was shot candid camera style. Everyone not only played the part – but also looked their part. Its a casting miracle.

Vanaja is a film about caste/social barriers, adolescent sexual explorations/manipulations, and portrayal of the strong emotional bond between parent/child. There are some scenes which you never expect to see in an Indian movie (but which may regularly happen in real life) – particularly when a teenage adolescent actress is involved. But Vanaja will surprise you, again and again.

Every character, including our heroine, has flaws along with their good sides. Every character has an ulterior motive – which pushes the story forward. Many times we are unsure of the Heroine’s moral compass, but she works it to her advantage by pushing the story forward with those bearings. Thats the most I can say without giving the plot away.

Now to the negatives (particularly in the second half) - sometimes the characters’ behavior is unrealistic, and their motivation unclear. Plus it certainly doesn’t help when the screenplay glosses over crucial factors and fails to bridge some scene gaps. Also the classical arts conservation stood out a little – taking the focus away from the crux of the movie.

The movie was shot on a super16 on a minuscule budget ($20K?). It is slowly making rounds in Art Film circles for the last 2 years. It may come out on DVD this quarter. Kudos to director Rajnesh Domanpalli, and the entire indie crew, for putting together a gem unspoilt by Tollywood excesses. And yes, he gets my vote

Worth watching just for the performance of Mamata (who learnt Kuchipudi + acting just for the movie)

4.5/5

Aamir Khan must have a guts of steel to have made such a risky film for his debut as a director. Taare Zameen Par, a film about Children, but NOT a children’s film (from his blog). The subject matter is borderline documentary, but almost well woven into a film. Why almost? Read on…

In the first half is fantastic. The director’s attention to detail is amazing, be it interaction between characters (the way kid defies mom, dares his teacher, cajoles his bro, gets taunted by seniors/bullies) or the way the characters interact with their environment (kid swings away in iron gate, splashes every poodle, vandalizes neighbor’s potted plants) or the everyday scenes (punishment for shoe polish) – it faithfully recreates many of kids nightmares (signed leave letter, announcing marks in front of classmates, late school bus horn, nasty bus conductor, moms obsession with hygiene) and almost everything we (at least I) have done during our school days. Here a brat is shown unapologetically as a brat. No excuses. He is just a disobedient, lazy kid – almost like any one of us who got a rank from (25-50) in our class.

The second half is distinctively different – from natural it turns filmi. The Editor, Deepa Bhatia, should be send to Editor’s boarding school – she singlehandedly destroyed most of charm earned during first half and turned the climax into a bubblegum. By the end the movie drags on, adds unnecessary scenes (the kid is late to the Art Mela – why?!, and why make such a big hungama about his disappearance), unnecessary characters (Aamir’s lady friend, the old judge lady), filmi turnaround (zero->hero).  Looking back, they should have shaved off a good 30-45 mins off the movie, would have ended up with a crisp sharp movie, while still delivering their message. The music from ever dependable Shakar Ehasaan Roy is just ok, they could have done a lot better.

Despite the second half deficiencies, the movie does many things right – staring with fabulous performances (the kid, the father), a non condescending approach, world class animation (for an Indian film), true emotions, it even  manages to extract a tear or two and has many well done/clap-worthy scenes.

Aamir has effectively elevated himself from the rest of the Bollywood crowd with this film (which totally begs the question, with all his infinite wisdom, how did he agree to remake of the horrendous Tamil film – Ghajini)

Definitely worth a dekho… its a movie made with a lot of Dhill and Dil…

4/5