Against the Tide

The lives of Koli fishers in Mumbai have been bound up with the sea, the tides, and the shore since time immemorial. This captivating portrait explores the close friendship of two fishers as they go about their daily work, showing how modernization and climate change are now threatening traditional crafts and the lives of entire families. 

Rakesh lives with his mother, wife and baby son in a small fisher’s dwelling. His catch is in constant decline, but he still swears by the fishing methods passed down from his ancestors. Ganesh, who studied abroad, has returned to the condo he owns in Mumbai to fish with new techniques, using employees, big boats, and—controversially—LED lights. But he, too, has to deal with the scarcity of fish.

In observational style, and without any moral judgement, Sarvnik Kaur films the two men over an extended period in which their work and personal lives become increasingly complex, and their existential discussions increasingly intense. In between times, the camera explores above and around their boats, and goes beneath them into the water, where it finds only tiny fish, jellyfish and ominous-looking pieces of plastic.