Starting from scrap... raddi shop to film studio

UDUPI: Everyone starts from scratch. But he started from scrap. Though Yakub Khader Gulvady (42) had formal education only till Class 6, his thirst for knowledge made him read old books and newspapers in his father’s scrap shop!

It was during 1990, when Yakub was 12 years old, that he started reading newspapers, magazines and other books lying at his father Abdul Khader Beary’s scrap shop in Kundapur. This triggered his  interest in reading. Though Yakub started his own scrap collection shop in Tallur, Kundapur, in 2006 which he managed till 2015, he did not give up his reading habit. He slowly moved to directing movies and doing social work.

To know what his father’s scrap shop was to him, Yakub says, ‘‘If my father was busy weighing the old newspapers and books, my eyes would look for the vernacular weekly and monthly magazines. I thought they were not ‘scrap’ but a treasure trove of knowledge. I started reading those magazines and books one by one and they kindled the interest in me to think beyond the business of our scrap shop.

My father too would support me and not disturb me when I would get hooked on to a book. I never knew that this very habit of reading would make me want to direct movies, learn the art of acting and decide costumes for various roles in the movies.” Yakub’s first encounter with movies happened in 2006 when noted film director Girish Kasaravalli called him and sought his assistance in preparing the screenplay for the movie ‘Gulabi Talkies’.

The movie had Beary-speaking characters and was shot in Kundapur. ‘‘Who will miss an opportunity when an eminent director like Kasaravalli calls and gives a chance in his movie? Initially I did not believe Kasaravalli himself was on the line. He came to know about me and my interest in movies through my well-wishers. It was a great experience to decide the costume for actress Umashree as she played the role of a Muslim woman in that movie. That movie won the Swarna Kamal national award in 2007,’’ he says with pride.

In 2011, director Nikhil Manjoo gave Yakub an opportunity to act in ‘Hajj’ and the movie won three State film awards. In 2016, film director Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar gave him a role in his movie ‘Ishtakamya’. The same year Yakub also produced a movie ‘Reservation’ and it won the Rajath Kamal national award. Yakub has travelled extensively to 17 countries including the US, the UK, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka on various occasions when his movie was premiered there. Yakub’s son Fahad (12) and daughter Fahima (7) had acted in ‘Triple Talaq’ movie.

For the past two months, Yakub is seen sorting and rearranging the items collected at his new scrap shop opened in Gulvady village in Kundapur. He is assisted by two men at the scrap shop. ‘‘Two months back, the pandemic had cast a shadow on my movie career. So without worrying much, I took help from friends and opened a new scrap collection shop in Gulvady. I had directed ‘Triple Talaq’, a Beary language film that premiered at Scott Cinemas in Bristol, UK, in December last year,” he says.

‘‘Today I have taken up this scrap collection business again to send out a message that no work is small if one is sincere. My mother Fathima who is 84 years old now, wife and two children have supported my venture as being self-reliant is important in these testing times. I will not abandon this scrap collection business in future. But once normalcy returns, I will continue to work in movies too,’’ he says.
Dr Prakash Tholar, Yakub’s friend, says, “His life’s journey is an inspiration to many. He gives his 100 per cent in whatever he does. His hard work and dedication brought him laurels many times for his movies.”