We're Mumbai's Catholics! How these content creators are showcasing the community one unique reel at a time

Leons Joseph's father is half Malayalee and half Goan; his mother, on the other hand, is half East Indian and half Anglo Indian-Malayalee and that is why he calls himself a ‘soda lemon mix'.

"The Catholic community is so close-knit and since we all belong to a Parish, you know how active it is when organising activities and events. It's like one big family. So, during the Covid-19 pandemic, I felt that there was some kind of feeling that people were missing those feast and relatable experiences, which they would otherwise have." So, Joseph decided to make something relatable so that people can feel closer to the experience. That is how Uncle D'souza was born.

Mumbai boasts of a very large Catholic community that not only enjoys going to church but also participating in the various other events conducted in their parishes in different parts of the city. These include cultural events like music and dance competitions. Beyond the church, the different neighbourhoods organise sports tournaments, and are also known for their typical mannerisms like every other community. Last but not least important days of observances like Mount Mary's feast in September are a part and parcel of most of their lives. Joseph is one of a handful of Catholics in the city, who do not create content around food, fashion and lifestyle but rather enjoy creating content around their own community, which they know best. As a Mumbaikar, one has been exposed to Aunty Maggie, who went viral roughly 10 years ago for her imitations of the community. After that, VJ Jose's popular 'Bandra Buggers' video also went viral. Interestingly, the advent of reels has brought these imitations back in more ways than one and one of them is by Joseph.

Celebrating Mumbai's Catholic community
The city-based lawyer's signature fictional character Uncle D'souza is inspired by people in his community and neighbourhood. He explains, "Through him, I spoke about Christmas and how we decorate our houses and visit people. That video went viral and then people started suggesting that I make something on Easter. It is the viewers who started suggesting topics of what they wanted to see from Uncle D'souza." With such a strong connection, the Mumbaikar has now become synonymous with the character, Uncle D'souza, because most often than not people refer to him as uncle, and that often makes him forget his name, he jokes.

It is also what inspires him because there wasn't Catholic representation at the time. Earlier there was Aunty Maggie, played by Rozzlin Pereira, he shares. After she stopped making content around the community, there was no content on Catholic culture, according to Joseph, and that made him take that step. "My entire aim is to not be a content creator but to represent the community because our community looks so alien not only to non-Catholics but also the different religious sects like the Protestants or any other ones, they don't know what we do, our different sub- cultures, or small minute Catholic mannerisms that we do that are so unique to us."

Even in every church, Joseph says there are so many different cultures that it has all become one unique ‘Bombay Catholic culture'. "You may be a Goan, Mangalorean or any other culture, you adopt the Bombay Catholic culture because it's a little bit of everything. For example, the Wedding Masala song is a mixture of Goan, Mangalorean and East Indian wedding songs." As far as Joseph goes, it's his adoption of not only English but also Goan and Mangalorean Konkani that makes his reels unique. Having not only been encouraged by his mother to learn the languages to preserve the culture, but also attending mass as an altar server for services in different languages, he has been able to speak in many languages.

Interestingly, Joseph says he makes the videos only in his free time. He explains, "I have always made this conscious decision to not be in the content creation business, the more I try to commercialise this work that I do, I would not enjoy doing it. I will only do it for topics that feel relatable, so there is no pressure to create them." Now, he gets help on how to make videos for Instagram. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Joseph would pick up one trending topic for Uncle D'Souza to talk about. One of them was a video about how there were rising cases of domestic violence. "Through the Uncle D'souza character, I made a character ‘Bebdo D'mello' who is doing bomabom (noise) during the pandemic and he is beating his wife',"Joseph, who goes by @leonsify on Instagram, breaks it down.

Over the last three years, he has also created another character called Denzil, a youth who misses church and just lies about everything. However, it's not random but very well-thought out by him. Imitating the latest Navratri reel, he shares, "There is a clear balance between not sounding like a religious fanatic but making a conscious effort to get everybody under the same umbrella. I take Catholic culture and social awareness and club it together." Most recently, he dived into the Bandra Fair culture, and made the most of it With Christmas around the corner, Joseph does have plans but before that he plans on making them on Advent and feast of Christ The King, and any other topic that he connects with.

Having fun being an actor
Joseph isn't the only one. Walter D'souza, who came to Mumbai 15 years ago, hails from Kankavli in Maharashtra, has been doing theatre from his school days. Having studied in a Marathi-medium school and with his first language being Marathi, it was only natural for him to take his acting to the next level by becoming a theatre actor. Since the 30-year-old liked watching Marathi cinema, he was inspired by Ashok Saraf's character of Professor Dhond in Gupchup Gupchup (1983). "From my childhood, I have always liked the character. Since there was no work for actors during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, there was something inside of me wanting to act. So, I decided I would do Professor Dhond's character in Hindi."

Initially, D'souza thought he would do just one video on his Instagram account @mr.walter_not_white, which is about the Catholics drinking alcohol, that eventually went viral. He explains, "We know how the Catholic community has been stereotyped in Bollywood movies, so I said I'll do it on that and create the character Pascoal Pinto. If I had to do it on anything else, people would have not liked it." On the same day that he released the video, D'souza says he got over 2,000 followers and that shocked him, especially because he had done a lot of Hindi content before that but this Catholic community related content was liked by a lot of people.

Being an actor, D'souza gets ideas from relatives or movies. For example, he created his own character of Catholics who are not married inspired by the 'Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashmah' character of Popatlal. He explains, "They like a girl, but they are not married. Most Goan men are usually on cruise, and are 40-year-olds, who want to get married. Through his character sketches, he also makes videos on food with catchy Konkani tunes. "I used to put some Goan Konkani songs at the start of the video, that are forgotten by people now. I used to get messages about these songs. People used to ask me about the songs and tell me to send the playlist. So, I compiled all the songs together and sent it to them."

Such has been the response to his videos that when D'souza was in his friend's hometown of Sawantwadi, two girls passing on the bike, called out to him ‘Aye Pascoal'. Interestingly, D'souza points out that nobody recognises him for the nine Marathi plays that he has done but they recognise him more for the characters in these reels. He says, "I had only thought to myself that I would practise my acting during the lockdown. I used to not even be on social media before that because I considered it a big distraction. Imagine rehearsing for a two-hour play."

Also Read: Mumbai Christmas shopping guide: Curated list of places to bring home stunning decor items

Bringing out Bandra in Mumbai's Catholic community
It is no different with Erika Packard, who has always loved to observe people and their mannerisms. It has often been translated into characters that she creates around them, and Bandra's Russell was no different, which she created a little over a year ago on @erikapackard on Instagram. She shares, "A friend of mine used a particular filter, and when I tried the filter, I went back to my college days, when the band boys would be busy with practice - they were so Catholic. I have been across boys like this my whole life and that is how Russell came to life. The whole filter and look fitted so well - the long hair and oversized T-shirts." Coincidentally, Packard says the oversized T-shirt look has also been her look for a long time.

While it was only the start, it was a video about Russell, played by her, where he lives in Bandra, and how much he pays for rent, that went viral. It is inspired from a video format that is popular on the internet and that takes place in New York. In her typical Catholic mannerism, she explains, "That video took off like mad. I realised that people wanted to know more about Russell. It was typical with words like Waroda Road, Dada's house, Sorpotel - these words made people like the video. Even the word ‘chattie', the handi that you make the curries in. Even we say cane, and never say, ‘whack you with the broom'. People related to it so much that about 200 - 300 Catholics like D'mello, Pereira, D'Souza, and some Matilda too followed me," she laughs.

When the Mumbaikar started out, she didn't imagine creating a whole story around Russell's life, and his friends Nigel and Clyde - all of whom are imaginary. She shares, "I just did a casual Bandra boy - the band practice, Candies, Veronica Road, St Andrew's College and footie kind of person. The way he talks comes from my mother - because my mom is Goan, and my dad is Anglo Indian. I have gone to Goa a lot; I have a lot of family in Malad - Orlem. The way they talk -- only Catholics know how Catholics talk inside the home."

It came as a happy realisation to Packard, who at that time didn't believe that the community was so big when she started out. It was also why she was sceptical about people liking the character of Russell. Her impression of the fictional character has connected so well with Mumbaikars that she had to create a story around him. "People want to see Russell's house, they want to know where Russell went for the weekend. I put up a post yesterday of myself in a sexy dress and they wanted to know where Russell went," she says while laughing.

Interestingly, this whole experience has made her go back to hers and her family's roots and memories. "I used all my aunties and uncle's names like Patsy, Beryl and Herman for the videos," she adds. So, what are the themes that she has explored with Russell? Packard says with Russell, she explores anything and everything related to the Catholic community - football, the Bandra gymkhana, Soul Fry, and even dating -- all of which make it relatable.

Interestingly, none of this is pre-scripted and she spends not more than five minutes after she gets an idea to make the video. The rawness is visible when even occasional mistakes like fumbling while saying the dialogues, make it look as authentic as possible. It is simply because the videos are no-fuss and made quickly because she feels if they were made professionally, it wouldn't work. Ask if Russell is going to be there for Christmas, and she assures, "He is definitely going to be there with kulkuls, putting up the balls on the Christmas tree, and sorpotel and all that. Everything will be there."

Entertaining people one reel at a time
Interestingly, Joseph, D'souza and Packard aren't the only ones who have jumped on the bandwagon in the last few years, even Ashville Simoens started creating hyper-local and relatable content during the Covid-19 pandemic on @mrkadakman on Instagram. "It was my wife who inspired me to start this at a time when I was trying to do videos on misheard lyrics. She said, why don't you make videos about Catholic grandmas and their mannerisms. I started imitating my own grandma talking to her friends, which I have heard throughout my childhood."

Being a good Hindi speaker all his life, Malad-based Simoens says it was a culture shock to him to hear his grandmother speak Hindi the way she does, which as most people know that Catholics have a typical way of speaking the language -- with an Anglicised accent.

It's these impressions of Simoens acting like his grandmother, with the character Aunty Matilda, that immediately took off and was being shared by many members of Mumbai's Catholic community, more than anybody outside of the city. These videos also helped open doors for the Mumbaikar, who at the time was hosting drinking games, but is now an emcee and host. "When I put out the videos, I was very sceptical about how women would react to it but the first 10 comments turned out to be from women and more importantly elderly women." Later on, there were people who used to message him saying their grandmother, mother and aunty actually talks like the way he imitates them.

The sudden popularity of the character has also taken Simoens by surprise. "It is so unfathomable because I was just a person who wanted to do something out-of-the-box. People click pictures with me today." In one such incident which occurred only last week, the 36-year-old met an autistic child, who recognises him only by his voice. He shares, "I was compering at a 75-year-old's birthday party, and I met the boy there. Since the child cannot recognise faces, his mother said to say the dialogue, and as I said the dialogue, the kid came and held me. It was so adorable because the story goes that he saw my video last year, and wanted a black scarf and wore it to church and wished everybody as Aunty Matilda said the dialogue to everyone. The parents said, ‘we don't know how to thank you' because we go through so many tough times, but he gets happy looking at your videos."

While Aunty Matilda is popular, Simoens also does another kind of video series called, ‘Who is your English teacher?' He says many people have taken offence to them, but the idea of the character was not to hurt or roast anyone but to put it out in a strict yet funny way to people. "It's just a video about a strict Catholic aunty teaching kids how to pronounce English words," states the Mumbaikar. While he creates content, he doesn't want to be considered an influencer but more of an entertainer. With Christmas only two months away, he will definitely entertain us with more of Aunty Matilda. Being one of many members from the Catholic community from Mumbai, who shares these relatable reels with fellow Goans, Mangaloreans, East Indians and Anglo Indians, this writer is confident that Uncle D'souza, Denzil, Pascoal Pinto, Rita Nurse, Russell and Aunty Matilda will be there to entertain everybody.

Also Read: No mandate to hold centre accountable: SC lawyer on same-sex marriage verdict