It may sound quite unusual for one to dream of dying at a particular place on earth. In that aspect, Varanasi is indeed unusual. Every year, hundreds of people move to this city in Uttar Pradesh to live in a salvation home, waiting for death to embrace them. According to the Hindu belief, a death in this city by the banks of river Ganga lets one attain Moksha (salvation).
So, when Jithin Majeed, a then film studies student at Regent's University London made a documentary about Varanasi and its beliefs about death, he didn't think twice. Titled Moksha, the documentary won the 2019 Royal Television Society (RTS) Student Award for Cinematography, one of the most prestigious television awards in the UK.
Moksha was Jithin's graduation project in 2019. While he is still not out of surprise and disbelief about winning the award, the memory of his Varanasi trip, which he took a year ago, is still fresh in this 22-year-old's memory. Sitting in his home in Kozhikode in Kerala, he recalls the memories and tells us what excited him about Varanasi and the concept of death and salvation.
Excerpts from the conversation:
What was the reason behind travelling to Varanasi to shoot your graduation project?
In 2017, I watched a documentary on Varanasi by a filmmaker called Aeyaz. That's how I got intrigued by Varanasi. It was very pleasing visually. That's the thing about Varanasi - Each frame there is quite cinematic. We started the pre-production towards mid-2018. Meanwhile, I also established a few contacts there.
Was it part of the original plan to make the documentary on death and salvation?
Nothing was a conscious decision here. We didn't plan out anything, the idea was to shoot without a plan. We wanted to go with a flow and see what stories come up. Most people advise against this. Since I am a cinematographer, I wanted to shoot something visually appealing. To be honest, I could not write a good script.
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What was it about the 'city of death' that interested you the most?
I got to learn a lot about people's views on death. Most people there welcome death and do not think of it as an end. You create a void for someone new to enter the world. Also, anyone who dies in Varanasi does not reincarnate and attain Moksha. This was a new concept in the western world. Honestly, I don't think the documentary would amuse a lot of Indians.
Was it difficult to interact with the people there, considering you do not speak Hindi?
It is true that I'm not well versed in Hindi. Also, they speak a very different dialect of Hindi there with a lot of Sanskrit words. But lucky for me, most of the people are used to tourists and understand English. I interviewed a total of four people. I asked them questions in English and they responded in Hindi. I also spoke to someone who's an American who lives in Varanasi. The next person I interviewed was a French author who spends six months in Varanasi every year.
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It is surprising to not see an Aghori in the film. Was that a conscious decision?
No, The Kumbh Mela was happening then and we could not find any Aghoris. They were all busy at the Kumbh. We could only see imposters, trying to fool the tourists.
For someone with a Muslim surname, were you scared about making a film on Hindu beliefs?
The first thing that the French author advised me was to not reveal my Muslim identity. I was honestly scared and so were my parents back home. So, I told everyone that I am a student visiting from the UK. Thankfully, I could pass with my first name.
The award must have come as a shocker...
Definitely. I wasn't even sure about applying, but my tutor told me that I must go ahead. The award ceremony, however, happened behind the closed doors, in March, owing to the pandemic. I came back to India before that and currently, I'm stuck here. Once things get back to normal, I must apply for a new UK visa and go back and collect the award.
