Anjali Parvati Koda is a writer-director in Telugu films, acclaimed playwright and the co-founder of Hyderabad's popular theatre group Samahaara along with theatre personality Rathna Shekar Reddy. Her father is filmmaker Mohan Koda and her brother is writer Rahul Koda.
Biography
Koda is a critically acclaimed playwright and writer in films. Her father is filmmaker Mohan Koda and brother Rahul Koda is a screenwriter in Telugu who co-wrote Telugu movies including Anaganaga O Dheerudu, Panjaa. She wrote her first play Purushotham-He, the Victim of Spiders and Pressure Cookers at 18, and later on penned Dominic Wesley, directed by Stu Denison, which received rave reviews including "well-written and witty". She co-wrote the adaptation of Samahaara's hit production 'The Last Wish Baby', a satirical comedy which is one of Hyderabad's most popular plays with reviews calling it a "laugh riot" and a "must watch". Her next play was Gregor Samsa, a stage adaptation of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis which was critically acclaimed with reviews citing "at once horrific and comic, thanks to the deft adaptation and impressive performances". Her first play Purushotham, He the Victim of Spiders and Pressure Cookers was included in the syllabus for prestigious universities abroad including for Rutgers, State University of New Jersey Her next play Karna was funded by National School of Drama, and it "deviates from the traditional portrayals" and is inspired by the great Indian epic Mahabharata and interprets it from Karna's point of view. She is also a Standup Comedian. She has directed short films and web series. She was honoured by Alliance Francaise, Hyderabad which hosted a group art exhibition, ‘NavDevi’ celebrating diversity of talent and creativity in women by putting up an exhibit with quotes from her plays and her photographs. She has written dialogue for Telugu films. She has acted in plays such as Hamlet and Anton Chekov's The Bear.
Samahaara
Rathna Shekar and Anjali began with touring their maiden production The Crest of the Peacock, an educational play on mathematics across the twin cities to schools and colleges, staging more than 50 shows. Their play Purushotham-He, the Victim of Spiders and Pressure Cookers has gotten critical acclaim. They have worked on many productions since including another original play Dominic Wesley written by Koda directed by UK-based Stu Denison, Unlucky also directed by Denison, Rabindranath Tagore's Post Office, Woody Allen's God, Athol Fugard's The Island and many workshop productions.
The Hyderabad Theatre Festival
The group Samahaara under the guidance of Rathna Shekar Reddy and Anjali Parvati Koda is credited with making theatre popular and involving the young crowd in Hyderabad. Their most significant contribution to the Theatre of India, apart from their original productions, has been organizing three editions of The Hyderabad Theatre Festival, namely The Hyderabad Theatre Festival 2009, The Hyderabad Theatre and Short-Film Festival 2010 and the Samahaara Hyderabad Theatre and Rock Music Festival 2011. The Festival has been instrumental in bringing together the various amateur and professional theatre groups in Hyderabad and improving the quality and scale of the plays. The platform of HTF as it is abbreviated has been a great boost for theatre groups in Hyderabad. Many of Samahaara's stand-alone productions are performed at various auditoriums across the city, including the open-cultural center Lamakaan, the iconic Ravindra Bharathi, Telugu University and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. HTF 2009 was held in June 2009 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, HTF 2010 was conducted at Ravindra Bharathi in July 2010 for 7 days and HTF 2011 was conducted in December 2011 at three venues: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Ravindra Bharathi and Taramati Baradari.
