Acclaimed filmmaker Aparna Malladi passes away

Aparna Malladi, the acclaimed actor, filmmaker, and teacher known for her YouTube series Posh Poris and feature films The Anushree Experiments and Pellikuturu Party, passed away in the early hours of January 2 in Los Angeles, USA. She was 54 and had been courageously battling cancer for the past four years. Aparna moved to Los Angeles two years ago for treatment, which initially showed promising results before the cancer relapsed.

Aparna was a trailblazer in the Telugu independent film scene, making her mark well before the rise of OTT platforms. Her notable works include Mitsein, Nupur, and Pellikuturu Party. Both Mitsein and Nupur garnered international recognition, being screened and awarded at several prestigious film festivals. Her last film, Pellikuturu Party (2022), featured Prince Cecil, Arjun Kalyan, and Aneesha Dama.

A graduate of the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco, Aparna was deeply committed to nurturing talent. She taught screenwriting and filmmaking at various film schools and universities, mentoring numerous budding filmmakers. Among those she inspired was Venkatesh Maha, the director of the critically acclaimed C/o Kancharapalem.

Aparna’s untimely demise has left a void in the Telugu film industry and a profound sense of loss among her friends, students, and colleagues.