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 Hyderabad.