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THE WAVE RIDERS

How many of us know that Indians from the Indus Valley had thriving trade relations with other ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia, Bahrain and Oman? How many are aware that the world’s first shipping dock, which reveals considerable knowledge of maritime engineering and hydrography has been located at Lothal in current day Gujarat? How many realise that the Indians had detail navigational charts and ocean maps of considerable length describing the locations of settlements, sea shores, rivers, and mountains – even before the Common Era began?

There’s much more to India’s navigational skills than meets the eye –Emperor Ashoka sent massive diplomatic missions to Greece, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Macedonia and Epirus; Tamil Pandya embassies were received by Augustus Caesar; Tamil and southern Sanskrit name inscriptions have been found in Luxor in Egypt. In turn Tamil literature from the Classical period mentions foreign ships arriving for trade and paying in gold for products...so on and so forth.

The list is long and varied – but it decisively proves at least two things. While North of India primarily depended on the land routes for trade, it’s the south, where the Dravidians from the Indus Valley finally settled down with their considerable seafaring knowledge - that used the ocean extensively for commerce. Indian maritime traditions have lived here for thousands of years – it’s still very much alive here.

The film looks at a few community specific maritime traditions from down south - and, in context to their living practices, reveal the pristine glories of maritime skills of entire India – including traditions from Odissa and Gujarat.

The locations where we shoot this backbone of the film are BEYPORE town, where the master craftsmen or khalasis have been using certain Sanskrit shlokas as their guide to ship building – or ‘dhow’ building, for over 5000 years. The film also covers, step by step, any one of the celebrated BOAT RACES OF KERALA – and showcases the traditions associated with it that reveals the rich maritime culture of the nation. The camera also travels to MUMBAI PORT – which had carved a name for itself during the British Era in massive ship building, between the seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries. Another stop would be the Indian Navy Museum at FORT KOCHI, which has detail exhibits of India’s maritime history, with special focus on her naval activities.

The film, therefore, while taking its visual backdrop from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, talks about the ancient maritime heritage of India, its trade and commerce achievements via sea, its navigational traditions and practices and a few glorious chapters in its maritime history.

  • SANJEEV SIVAN
    Director
    The Endless Summer,
  • ANIRBAN BHATTACHARYA
    Writer
  • SANJEEV SIVAN
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 25, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    DIGITAL
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • NOT YET
Distribution Information
  • PSBT
    Country: India
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - SANJEEV SIVAN

SANJEEV SIVAN Film-maker; Director; Storyteller A PROFILE Youngest of a family of film-makers that includes his father and elder brothers Sangeeth and Santosh Sivan, Sanjeev quite literally has film-making in his blood. Born and brought up in an environment where film reels substituted for skipping ropes and camera tripods for cricket bats, it was only a matter of time before Sanjeev decided to take up film direction as a profession. With the firm belief that a strong sense of narration and a flair for story telling has to be backed up be a thorough knowledge of all aspects of film making, Sanjeev undertook a comprehensive 4 year course in direction at the very prestigious Tisch film school, New York University. He also holds an MBA degree from the same university. What Sanjeev aims to represent through his celluloid sagas is the myriad moods of the human animal – all its cries, whispers and smug moments in its immensely breathtaking variety. The subject of existence haunts him, and his selection of stories to tell reveals a particular knack for the ‘strangeness’ of being. For him, treatment always follows the route that the concept imposes upon it – he believes each story has to be told differently, and in each new project, there is a different story of ‘strangeness’ to tell. In all of Sanjeev’s projects, be it feature, documentary or docu-features, his followers have started expecting this ‘difference’ – this uniquely distinctive storytelling. Sanjeev’s Malayalam feature film, ‘APARICHITHAN- THE STRANGER’ - starring superstar Mammootty, was made on a budget of less than Rs. 1.25 crores, ‘THE STRANGER’ changed the face of the Kerala film industry with its never-seen-before technique and craft. Yet to release Malayalam feature film “Venalodungathe” ( Endless summer) with Salim kumar & Seema Biswas was recently awarded best film at the Calgary, Canada International film festival. This was based on his award winning documentary “AFTER LIFE”

Sanjeev’s other feature projects have also been widely cherished – both domestically and abroad. Films like “GUBBAN MOOPAN’S DREAM” (Fukuoka International film festival, Japan) and “MANIKKAN” in Tamil (both produced by Films Division,I & B Ministry) have won rave reviews from critics and appreciation from viewers alike.

When Sanjeev is not making feature films, he makes documentaries and docu-features; that too with flying colours. His most recent film, UNDERGROUND INFERNO (National Geographic Channel), won the BEST DOCUMENTARY Award IIFF 2& the best documentary at the Greece International film festival. Sanjeev becomes particularly excited about his documentary projects because here he gets the scope of exploring in-depth the elements that constitute his world-view of existence. He has a long list of completed international projects. To name a few recent ones; THE ARYAN SAGA ; SEX LIES & A BOOK ; KARAOKE COPS (Al Jazeera) ; LIFE AFTER DEATH (Asian Pitch) , DHARAVI – UNDERBELLY ECONOMY (Mediacorp) , SLUMGOD MATHEMATICIANS (Sundance Channel), IN THE SHADOWS OF TAJ(MEDIACORP), UNITED COLOURS OF BOLLYWOOD, FIGHT PRACY TODAY, LITTLE WOMEN( all for PSBT)ARUNIMA’S STORY, BOYS & GIRLS, THE DOLL STORY. His future Malayalam feature film projects are “WHAT IF” with Nivin Pauly, “15 HOURS”with Mamooty & “KINGDOM” with Fahad Fazil

He has been signed up by EROS INTERNATIONAL to direct three feature films in Hindi Awards come naturally to Sanjeev Sivan. From the beginning of his filmmaking career he has been showered with praises and accolades that have inspired him to reach even greater heights. ‘JOHNNY’ as producer won a national award and Kerala state award for Best Children’s film. Sanjeev received the ‘EMERGING MASTERS AWARD’ at the Seattle Intl Film Festival. He was also the jury member of the Indian Documentary Producers Association(IDPA) Film Awards He’s served as a jury member for the 57nth National film awards

For Sanjeev, making films is a natural extension of his self – an expression of the experiences he has accumulated over the years through his inhibition-free interaction with people. That’s the reason why his films are always about emotions – intense stories of people who are stuck in a queer twist of fate and are striving to break out of those shackles. Sanjeev believes nothing could be more important than a aesthetic portrayal of this human struggle to break free…this urge to retain ones integrity in the face of greatest of adversaries… a helplessness that emerges sometimes from within the protagonist and sometimes from outside. That’s the spirit and the soul of Sanjeev’s work. And that’s his ‘difference’ as a storyteller. CONTACT SANJEEV SIVAN E-Mail: sanjeevsivan@sanjeevsivanentertainment.com Cell: 91- 9446749926/ 91-9819772204

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