A journey via India’s landscapes swallowed by urbanisation [Film Review]

I first chanced upon the movie Matsyanyaya on a WhatsApp group speaking about an upcoming screening of the movie. It was the title that caught my consideration — Matsya I knew meant fish and Nyaya, justice. Fish justice? I’ll have been proper in regards to the word-for-word translation, however I used to be fully fallacious in regards to the innate that means. As a result of if you watch the movie, you will note that there isn’t any justice in any respect. The filmmaker was referring to the “regulation of the fish”, a time period utilized in Indian political philosophy which refers to a situation of chaos, whereby the sturdy will devour the weak. There may be one other analogy that’s extra literal and speaks in regards to the time of drought, when the bigger fish will eat the smaller ones, the sturdy will eat the weak; very like what growth tasks round India are doing to the pure panorama, tradition, tribal communities and the general ecosystem of the nation.

Hrutika Patole refers to herself as an indie filmmaker. Whereas she admits that the final decade or extra has been about shopper tasks for her, she plans to vary this with Matsyanyaya.

A movie by likelihood

“My unique thought was to not make this movie the best way it’s; it was to seize the countryside and the villages to show a stark distinction with life within the metropolis, to indicate various landscapes,” says Patole, when requested about how the thought of constructing this movie got here to her. When she began capturing throughout the metropolis, she got here throughout pressing tales of misplaced livelihoods and vanishing cultures that she felt compelled to inform. “In Pune, the place I dwell, I’ve seen areas rework and locations I liked in my childhood at the moment are gone.” Patole’s story will not be hers alone, it’s the story of many people who’ve, in due passage of time, gone again to areas we hung out in after we had been youthful, solely to seek out them changed by concrete jungles. She has succeeded in doing what she got down to do within the first place, which was to indicate the evident variations in landscapes of the town and the outskirts — the movie brings these out very clearly. On the similar time, Patole says that this movie has helped her share her private sense of loss and longing. I fully resonate along with her, additionally experiencing this similar sense of a time passed by even after I drive previous the rental house I lived in, a mere three years in the past as a result of there are such a lot of new buildings which have now come up in an space that was as soon as an unlimited meadow.

Of livelihoods misplaced

The movie opens with a quote on a black background, “On the finish of Kali-yuga, twelve suns shining collectively and bringing nice warmth adopted by torrential rain, will destroy the human race and all different creatures as properly. O king of Vraja, the earth will exist in title alone. (Brahmavaivarta PurANa 4.89.62-63)”, rapidly setting the tone for what’s about to come back. A view of the town, first aerial, then a have a look at a big bridge, then a large shot of many buildings and a helicopter flying by. We see the concretisation that has taken over the town altering components that beforehand seemed very totally different.

First, we go to the Versova jetty in Mumbai the place a fisherman laments that there aren’t any fish within the sea, and that many individuals have misplaced their livelihoods — fishing was the one factor they knew the way to do properly. The dialog right here refers back to the bridges which were constructed within the sea throughout Mumbai to make sure higher connectivity however the environmental affect and the affect to the standard fishing communities alongside the coast was fully ignored. A person talks in regards to the paradox of growth whereby the federal government takes the land and the supply of livelihood from the widespread man after which makes an attempt to persuade them that each one that they’re constructing is for them, the folks.

Of houses and cultures misplaced

Within the subsequent a part of the movie, as soon as once more we see aerial photographs of an area that when might have been stunning — the Hasdeo forest. The Hasdeo Arand is an enormous stretch of dense forests in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh. We’re proven aerial photographs of forest after which huge expanses of mud. We hear a girl’s voice speaking about how they used to have the ability to accumulate Mahua, an area flower used to make tribal liquor and different merchandise, that they may promote for $595 (Rs 50,000) earlier than the mines modified the whole lot. This a part of the movie exhibits the destruction attributable to the huge coal mines which have come up on this space and destroyed the houses of those folks. The folks of the village are offended in regards to the mines. Because the mines broaden, these residing within the surrounding areas don’t have any selection however to pack up their luggage and depart, with no sense of stability of their lives.

Because the movie involves an finish, a way of foreboding units in, of what’s going to occur if this rampant growth doesn’t decelerate. The movie is quarter-hour lengthy however strikes slowly, permitting one to sit down nonetheless and really feel each single uncomfortable feeling that it brings. On this movie, the filmmaker takes us on a journey to face her personal ache of change and devastation of the pure atmosphere round her and on this course of comes throughout landscapes and tribal communities which might be deeply affected by the rising urbanisation within the nation.

For now, the movie has a managed launch and is barely being launched at sure venues, however Patole is engaged on sending the movie to a number of festivals. Thus far, the movie has been exhibiting at small venues and intimate gatherings in India with the primary screening being held in Himachal Pradesh and the final one for the yr in Goa. Screenings are prone to resume publish April 2025.

Whereas at the moment the movie has been watched largely by environmentalists and other people extra inclined to the subject, it’s an inventive path to most people changing into conscious of the issue.

I come away pondering that there are two sorts of individuals on this planet — people who assume growth is a boon and people who assume it’s a curse and the time has come to determine which aspect we stand on.

The creator is a Goa-based impartial author who writes about local weather change, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. She additionally consults with NGOs and social enterprises within the environmental house.

Banner picture: Behind the scenes at Versova jetty.  The movie takes viewers to the jetty in Mumbai the place a fisherman laments that there aren’t any fish within the sea, and that many individuals have misplaced their livelihoods — fishing was the one factor they knew the way to do properly. Picture courtesy of Hrutika Patole.