Author and director Jyoti Kunkolienkar’s new Sahitya Akademi documentary ‘Sri Uday Bhembre: The Voice of Konkani’ captures the stalwart’s life, activism, and contribution to the literary world
KALYANI JHA | NT BUZZ
A new documentary directed by Jyoti Kunkolienkar under the Sahitya Akademi project focuses on the life and contributions of Advocate Uday Bhembre.
Bhembre, a renowned figure in Goa’s linguistic and cultural history received the Sahitya Akademi award for his play ‘Karna Parv’ in 2015 and was selected a year ago by the Sahitya Akademi for this documentary.
“Heroes are always relevant. And Adv. Uday Bhembre is a very important part of Goa’s history as he was actively involved in major movements like the Opinion Poll and the Konkani Language Movement shaping Goa’s cultural identity,” says Kunkolienkar, adding that like every other Goan she has immense respect for Bhembre. “It was on my mind to make a documentary on him for many years. I am grateful to Sahitya Akademi for giving me this opportunity to direct this documentary,” says the director, who has previously directed documentaries on Konkani stalwarts like Ravindra Kelekar, ManoharRai Sardesai, Chandrakant Keni, and Damodar Mauzo
The filmmaker has also been associated with prior documentary work through the Sahitya Akademi
framework.
Speaking about preparation and research for this project Kunkolienkar says, “I was aware of the body of work and the contribution of Advocate Bhembre since childhood. But I did rely on archival material to get the exact dates, like when he won the election etc. All the photographs used are from Uday Baab’s personal collection,” she says.
In fact, this documentation changed Kunkolienkar’s perspective about micro documentation. “The way he has preserved old photos with the dates behind is commendable. He also showed us how he makes YouTube videos using tripod, all by himself. There is so much to learn from him,” she says, adding that during the course of the shooting of this film, Bhembre refused to rest and was prepared to give as many retakes as necessary.
Expressing his delight on being selected for the documentary, Bhembre says, “This doesn’t happen to every writer. So, it’s an honour.”
He states that while he has not seen the finished documentary which took about a year to complete, the director has kept him informed at every stage of progress.
The advocate, who has also been a politician, journalist, and a lyricist (especially known for the Konkani song ‘Channeache Rati’), also believes that since the film is in English, it will reach more people around the country. “The idea behind this is partly documentation and partly making information available to people from other languages,”
he says.
And Kunkolienkar hopes that through this documentary, people make an essential observation of how a “principle-oriented and honest person can make all the difference and make this world a
better place”.
(The documentary will release on March 27, 5 p.m. at Ravindra
Bhavan, Margao)
