Actor, filmmaker, and teacher Aparna Malladi, popular for her YouTube series ‘Posh Poris’ and feature films ‘The Anushree Experiments’ and ‘Pellikuturu Party,’ passed away in the wee hours of January 2 in Los Angeles, USA. Aparna (54), had been battling cancer for the past 4 years. She relocated to LA two years ago to undergo treatment. Although she responded well to the treatment initially, the cancer relapsed 2 years ago.
Aparna was a multifaceted filmmaker who made a mark in the Telugu independent film scene much before the advent of the OTT platforms. Mitsein, Nupur, and Pellikuturu Party are some of her popular movies. Both Mitsein and Nupur were screened and awarded at several international film festivals. Pellikuturu Party (2022), starring Prince Cecil, Arjun Kalyan, and Aneesha Dama, was her last movie.
Aparna graduated from the San Francisco-based Film Arts Foundation. She taught screenwriting and filmmaking in various film schools and universities. She mentored several Telugu indie filmmakers during their debuts, including Venkatesh Maha’s C/o Kancharapalem. Aparna’s untimely passing has left her friends and students in grief.
