Movie ‘Nilavunde Beli’ brings to fore lesser-known Moya community

MANGALURU: In order to bring to fore the life and language of Moya community, inhabitants of Kumble in Kerala to Uchila in Karnataka, a Kudla man has shot a full-length non-commercial movie titled ‘Nilavunde Beli’ (moonlight).
The movie is the brainchild of Chidanand N Udyawar, who works as a consultant and a Moya himself. Having handled story, production, direction and camera, Chidanand has made the movie on a shoe-string budget.Interestingly, ‘Nilavunde...’ is said to be the first full-length movie made in this language, and all its artistes hail from Mangaluru and nearby places.
Speaking on the lesser-known community found in areas bordering Kerala-Karnataka, Chidanand said their language is similar to Beary, “but not the same”, and it has no script. Moya community is also known as Moyar by locals and has been recognized as Bovi (this should not be confused with Bhovi, a community under SC category) by the government of India. Moya comes under Other Backward Caste (OBC), and those belonging to Moya community are called Moyars.
According to Chidanand, the members of the community, having an estimated population of 65,000, have moved out to many places. “The movie an attempt to bring together the community and to introduce our language to others. After being released on May 5, the non-commercial movie was screened at Dubai, Kerala, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Mangaluru. The 150-minute movie has been getting a good response,” he said.
Movie plot
Chandrajja, an 80-year-old orthodox, is not ready to accept changes like inter-caste marriage and others. In the same house, Kavya, his granddaughter, is not ready to accept his old-school thinking. The film highlights the ill-effects of substance abuse and anti-social activities. The film stresses about religious harmony. It has been uploaded on YouTube with English subtitles.