Right from a very young age, Ruth Lobo was fascinated by documentaries. “ As a child, I was inclined towards watching documentaries on television. I enjoy real stories and documentaries have the advantage of being both authentic and entertaining,” she says, adding that it was only after she graduated from St Xavier's College, Mumbai that she decided to take this love further. Working as an assistant on several feature length documentaries with the Surabi Foundation, Lobo decided to pursue her masters in Film and Video Communication from the National Institute of Design. As part of her final project, Lobo decided to centre her documentary around Goa's rich music tradition of mandos and dhulpods.
“My mother is from Thivim in Goa and my dad is from Mangalore. Although I have never been to Mangalore, I often come down to Goa and I'm deeply attached to it,” says this Mumbai girl, adding, “The tradition of singing mandos and dhulpods has always been part of our family especially at parties. But many a times people sing these without understanding the finer nuances of the lyrics, or just sing along without knowing the right lyrics. So I decided to make a documentary exploring this genre of music further.”
Through the documentary, Lobo wanted to provide a combo of an understanding of the music as well as a feel of Goan culture. “Most people outside Goa have this idea of Goa being a fun loving and relaxed place, but it's identity is so much more complex. Because we have a long colonial past much longer than our Indian counterparts, it has created a dual identity “ Goan as well as the mainstream Indian,” she says.
As part of her research, Lobo began reading research papers by Professor Susana Sardo, who is a PhD in enthomusicology, where she interprets the lyrics of the time when the music was first developing in the mid 19 century and was deeply impressed.
“The music was used as a protest of sorts. Although there was a lot of curfew imposed on freedom of expression by the Portuguese, the people still found a way to get the message across and to tell their story through song,” says Lobo. She also read Maria Couto's book 'A Daughter's Story' which has a chapter devoted to composers of mandos.
But once she had her research in place, Lobo confesses that finding the musicians to play the pieces that she wanted was a challenge. “Goa is so full of musicians that at first I was quite lost on which direction to take,” she admits. The other challenge was also to find a way to use the music in an apt way. “Finding a way to inter connect the music with the script in such a way as to make it poetic was a task. I finally decided to do it in a chronological order beginning with a musical introduction before going into the interview,” she says.
The final 50 minute long documentary 'Amchem cantar aum mhuntam' ( I am singing our song) was screened at Fundacao Oriente, Panaji on July 25. It is shot in both languages, English and Konkani and is punctuated with five musical pieces “ two mandos, one on the theme of love and the other on politics, a dhulpod on the Ranes who were instrumental in fighting the Portuguese rule in Goa, a hymn in Portuguese and a dekhni performance.
The documentary includes interviews with the family of Arnaldo de Menezes who was a noted mando composer, the Schubert Cotta family, performances by two mando groups 'Goenchim Kirnam' and 'Goenchim Noketram' and also features vocalist Preeti Coutinho and violinist Judy Fernandes. A lot of the documentary was shot on the Divar island and took over a year to complete.
“Filming non fiction is sometimes more challenging, there is the uncertainty involved of not knowing what you are finally going to get. You may start out with a premise in your head but what you get is something quite different,” explains Lobo, who will be screening the film for the first time in Goa at the Fundacao Oriente this weekend. She also hopes to take it to Margao as a lot of research and shooting happened there. As for her future documentary plans, Lobo already has plans to focus her next film on feminist issues and women in public spaces.
