His & Hers
Synopsis
Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) is the 15-year-old daughter of a widowed low caste fisherman struggling with dwindling catches, mounting debt, and an increasing dependence on alcohol. In an effort to help her father escape debt and humiliation, Vanaja goes to work in the house of the 10-cal landlady, Rama Devi (Urmila Dammannagari), secretly hoping to learn Kuchipudi dance while earning her keep. Vanaja’s precociousness catches the landlady’s eye and Rama Devi is soon teaching her the arts of music and dance, but when Rama Devi’s 23-year-old son Shekhar (Karan Singh) returns from the U.S. to run for political office, what begins as an innocent flirtation with Vanaja turns ugly. Set in rural south India, an area where social barriers are stronger than fort walls, this film explores one young woman’s journey to adulthood, and the barriers of class, sex, family obligation, and desire she experiences along the way.
