A film screening at a Mumbai museum explores the history of colonialism in the region
It was a long conversation with social scientist and professor Tejaswini Niranjana that led filmmaker Surabhi Sharma to make a film on Jamaican music. The two discussed how Indian labourers in the mid-19th century reached the Caribbean by boat carrying their music along and leading to new musical styles. “Trinidad has about 45 per cent Indians, and their music is an interesting mix of sounds of Indian music that they took from Bhojpuri-speaking workers, mixed up with African rhythms. It makes for a fascinating subject,” says the 43-year-old Sharma.
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A performance at Kingston, Jamaica
The conversation resulted in Sharma spending seven weeks in the Caribbean, meeting musicians, singers and music producers. In 2007, Sharma released a film documenting her efforts at understanding the region’s music, called Jahaji Music: India in the Caribbean. The docu stars Goan musician Remo Fernandes and follows his journey to the islands as he explores the musical collaborations and creates new music. “Through the film, I’ve tried to look at contemporary politics, race, sexuality and the history of colonialism. This film is essentially a travelogue through music,” she adds.
A film still showing Cecil Funrose, a musician from Barrackpore, Trinidad
The movie got its title from the word, jahaj (ship). “It invokes the idea of people who came in on ship. Besides, the image is very symbolic in Jamaica, and keeps coming up often in their music or art,” she says.
Although the film launched in 2007, it has been screened all over the world and has become a part of many course structures (cultural studies, migration studies) and libraries in European and North American universities. “It still has relevance,” says Sharma.
This evening, the film will be screened at the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum as part of their Movies at the Museum monthly screening programme. It will be followed by a discussion and Q&A session with Sharma. “The film was chosen because it tells the story about the history of music and touches upon Indian influences in Caribbean music,” says Puja Vaish, senior assistant curator at the museum.
Bob Marley posters that the director spotted in Jamaica
Movies at the Museum started last year as an initiative to screen films on a diverse range of topics and build up a debate around the subject.
Surabhi Sharma
The films are curated by filmmaker and cinematographer, Avijit Mukul Kishore, and architect and urban designer, Rohan Shivkumar.
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