It’s a startling moment: Kumar Gaurav standing in the middle of a cane field, considering the brutality of indentured labour. The scene isn’t from Gaurav’s Bollywood romances from the 1980s, but Rohit Jagessar’s Guiana 1838 (2004) – an English-language film from Guyana in the Caribbean.
Guiana 1838 is among the movies made by Caribbean directors of Indian heritage over the decades. These films explore the history of the Indians who arrived centuries ago in the region that was then known as the British West Indies (its countries include Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and the Bahamas). The themes include colonialism, slavery and the contemporary experiences of the descendants of the early immigrants.
In 1834, the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean resulted in a labour shortage. Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, British colonisers began sending Indians to work in sugarcane plantations.
The Indians, while mainly from Bhojpur and Awadh in the North, included Tamil speakers from the South. They were practically bonded labourers, forced into what the historian Hugh Tinker termed “a new system of slavery”. The employment contracts thwarted freedom, equal status and protection from exploitation.
Several novelists and academics have studied this violent dislocation, which nevertheless resulted in a sizeable Indian diaspora. During his recent visit to Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the sixth generation Indian-origin citizens of that country will be issued Overseas Citizens of India cards.
Caribbean filmmakers too have tried to make sense of the phenomenon. Among the elements in their films are the practice of Hinduism in the region, the persistence of the Bhojpuri dialect and the evolution of Chutney, the hybrid of local musical forms and Indian folk traditions. The films also explore fading memories of India and the new generation’s struggles with identity.
One of the leading lights of this strand is Harbance Kumar. A Trinidadian director of Indian descent, Kumar was briefly associated with independent Caribbean cinema.
Among Kumar’s notable movies is The Right and the Wrong (1970). In the Guyana-set film, African and Indian slaves on a plantation join forces to rebel against their white master. Their strategies diverge – the Africans favour violent retribution; the Indians gravitate toward non-violence.
While predominantly in English, the film has Hindi songs composed by Ved Pal, such has O Mere Humrahi, sung by Mukesh, and Manna Dey’s Rang Holi Ka Nirala, written by Harindranath Chattopadhyay. Although artistically uneven, The Right and the Wrong captures a shared struggle against oppression, navigating the intricate, often tense dynamics between communities alongside offering a nuanced reflection on their intertwined histories.
Harbance Kumar also directed the underworld drama The Caribbean Fox (1970), inspired by the gangsters Butch and the Indian-origin Boysie Singh. A fugitive who immigrated from Punjab in British India to Trinidad, Boysie Singh’s activities included gambling, piracy and human trafficking. In 1957, Singh was convicted for murder and hanged.
Two of Kumar’s films star Kabir Bedi, the Indian actor who rose to prominence in Italy in the 1970s for playing a dashing pirate in the Sandokan series. Bedi’s global ambitions also resulted in roles in Hollywood productions, notably the James Bond film Octopussy (1983).
Harbance Kumar had first worked with Bedi in 1974, in the Indian film Maa Bahen aur Biwi. Starring Bedi and Prema Shalini, this drama about a married woman’s tribulations was Kumar’s only attempt to work in Bollywood.
Bedi also had a cameo in Kumar’s Girl from India (1982). Suresh Wadkar composed the music for the film, in which a bride imported from India exposes the problems with the arranged marriage practice.
Sham has a tough time adjusting to his Indian wife Rina. In an unconventional turn, Sham permits Rina’s extramarital relationships. Her affair with an artist (Kabir Bedi) results in a child. Sham’s enraged father murders the artist and frames Rina for the crime.
Girl from India stands out for its exploration of Indian traditions transplanted to foreign soil, exposing the patriarchal tensions that persist across borders and generations. In 2006, Kumar made Rainbow Raani (2006), about a multi-ethnic musical band comprising African, Indian Caucasian and Chinese members.
Years after Girl from India, Kabir Bedi appeared in Bazodee (2016). The Bollywood-inspired interracial love story stars Bedi as the wealthy father of a woman who falls for a calypso artist of mixed heritage. Echoing traditional Bollywood tropes – culture clashes, prejudice and parental disapproval – Bazodee is a familiar yet engrossing narrative.
The complex dynamic between Hindu and Black communities is also the subject of Pim de la Parra’s Wan Pipel (One People, 1976). Wan Pipel is about the Dutch immigrant Roy (Borger Breeveld), who moves back to Suriname after his mother falls ill.
Roy experiences a cultural reawakening upon his return. Tensions arise when Roy falls for a Hindu nurse (Diana Gangaram Panday). Roy’s attempts to navigate the ensuring uproar leads to a poignant exploration of identity and solidarity amidst racial divisions.
Beyond the history of the diaspora and forbidden romance, Caribbean cinema has tackled social and political subjects. Trinidadian director Hugh A Robertson’s Bim (1974) is an important example.
Bim is hailed as the Trinidadian version of Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. The film’s protagonist is based on trade union leader Bhadase Sagan Maraj and Boysie Singh. Bim is a gritty but also operatic movie, driven by a larger-than-life hero.
Another notable film is Ismail Merchant’s The Mystic Masseur (2001), adapted from VS Naipaul’s novel of the same name. The film follows Ganesh Ramsumair, a struggling schoolteacher whose life transforms when he becomes a healer and then a politician.
The compelling character study, which is steeped in Naipaulian irony, mirrors India’s fusion of religion and politics. Aasif Mandvi’s nuanced portrayal of Ganesh captures the vibrant and chaotic essence of his flawed, tragic world. The cast includes several well-known Indian actors such as Om Puri, Ayesha Dharker and Zohra Sehgal.
Among the contemporary Caribbean directors is Mahadeo Shivraj from Guyana. Although Shivraj’s films are often rudimentary in budget and craft, they offer valuable insights into the Indo-Caribbean experience. Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me (2013) is a tender yet piercing tale of love, devotion and injustice on a Guyanese sugar plantation.
Forgotten Promise (2014) follows Tony Dass (Shivraj), a Guyanese immigrant in America who is estranged from his family. A call from an antique dealer brings Tony back to Guyana, where he investigates the roots of his misery and mends ties with those whom he has wronged.
Films about Indian-origin characters in the Caribbean are sporadic. Yet, they represent a legacy of hybridity and rootedness. The themes of identity, displacement and resistance define a community’s endeavour to understand its complex heritage.
Also read:
How Hindi teachers helped strengthen India’s ties with the Caribbean
Suraj Yengde writes about local manifestations of caste among Indians in Trinidad
