Last year, when writer and filmmaker Naveed Mulki was ambling through the back lanes of Mattancherry, he happened to stumble upon an exhibition of photographs. The gallery, atop a mosque, displayed a collection of pictures, many of which seemed to be family portraits.
Curious, Naveed explored the exhibition and learnt that the photographer, Biju Ibrahim, was documenting the 39 different communities that exist in Mattancherry. The pictures, all in black and white, had extraordinary stories to them and Naveed felt they had to be told.
A Letter From India, a short film by Naveed, captures the pluralistic essence of Mattancherry. “All of us in India grew up in diversity, but we never really put a figure to it, this interesting confluence of people surprised me. I knew I wanted to tell the story and Biju was only happy to collaborate,” he says.
Released on YouTube in August, the film has Biju as the protagonist, walking through the narrow streets and wide vistas of Mattancherry. The narrative unfolds through a letter he writes to his father, who had always dreamed of travelling across the country, but could not. Biju, through his photographs, tells him that the place was, by itself, a microcosm of India.
With poetic visuals, backed by an inventive script and a soulful background score, the film pays tribute to the multicultural identity of Mattancherry.
It was a challenge to squeeze all of Mattancherry’s heritage into a 12-minute film, but the makers believe this is a beginning of a longer relationship with the place. Work on the film took six months; Naveed, who wrote and directed it, kept revisiting Mattancherry, spending time with people and forging friendships.
Biju, who lived in Mattancherry as a resident artist at the Uru Art Harbour for over two years, had already become a familiar presence among the locals. “So filming was easy, we didn’t want to invade people’s spaces. The filming was done smoothly.”
Apart from the Jews, who are believed to have come to Mattancherry in the 14th century, it was also home to the Gujarati community, who settled here before the Portuguese arrived. The film seeks to explore what it is about the place that sustains such diversity. Biju’s frames include families that have been here for generations. One such from Yemen, crossed the deserts to make the place home since 1115 AD.
The vannans (dhobis) of Tamil Nadu, the Jains, the Kutchi Memons, the Aggarwals from Rajasthan, the dekhnis of Hyderabad, whose Urdu ghazals mingle with the thick strains of Carnatic music of the Tamil Brahmin community, the Christian artisans and Muslims...it is a crucible of cultures, cuisines and camaraderie.
The cinematography and editing are by Shaktiraj Singh Jadeja, another founding member of the Faraway Originals film collective, which Naveed is part of. A Letter From India can be watched on YouTube.