By Thomas Scaria
Mangaluru, Aug 14, 2023: A premier Konkani cultural organization in Mangaluru is now busy making a “soul searching” movie on the identity of the Konkani community in southern India.
The center, Mandd Sobhan (beautiful stage), has researched for the past 15 years and documented the cultural roots and heritages of the Konkani community that led to the making of the movie, “Osmitay’ (identity).
“We have depicted the culture and identity of the Konkani speaking people who were scattered due to several historical reasons,” said Louis Pinto, the movie’s producer who described the film as a soul-searching episode.
A trailer of the movie was released on August 13 in Mangaluru, a port city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
The team explained that they tried to depict a wide spectrum of fields in the movie such as Konkani music, dance, folklore, culture, language, heritage, literature, art, Konkani self-esteem and identity.
“Our ancestors have migrated from Goa following the cultural inquisition by the Portuguese rulers and persecution under the Muslim ruler, Tipu Sultan in Mangalore,” said Pinto, who explained that the movie depicts the story of migration, captivity and agony in detail.
However, Joel Pereira, the screenplay writer and assistant director of the movie, told Matters India that the movie is also about other communities who speak and share the Konkani identity.
The movie is scheduled to screen in mid-September in all cities with sizable Konkani speaking communities.
Present at the release of the trailer were philanthropists Roy Castelino, Rohan Monteiro, Vincent Coutinho, and Mandd Sobhann founder director Eric Ozario and other officials Louis Pinto, Stany Alvares, Kishore Fernandes.
Eric Ozario, who initiated the cultural center, said the movie is a search for Konkani identity and has an inside view about the migration of Konkani people, which will be relatable to people of all walks of life. The lead actors, Ashwin D’Costa and Wencita Dias — Catholic youths — were also present on the occasion.
Vilas Ratnakar Kshatriya is the director of the movie.
Catholics from Goa migrated to Mangalore in three major waves, the first after 1560, the second after 1570, and the third around 1683. The first wave was due to the Portuguese Inquisition that banned the use of Konkani.
In 1784, Tippu Sultan, a Muslim king, issued orders to seize the Christians in Mangalore, confiscate their estates, and deport them to Seringapatam, his capital. They had to suffer extreme hardships, torture, death, and persecutions during this captivity.
“Only a small group of people could come back to Mangalore after the fall of Tippu Sultan in 1799 and built up the Konkani Catholic community again,” Pinto explained.