A self-taught filmmaker captures rare scenes from life at Kerala’s rockpools

Instead, he made a good life for himself driving an autorickshaw in the town of Padiyottuchal in Kannur district, Kerala. He married, and started a family (he now has two children, aged 17 and 10). But everywhere he looked, in his lush green state, he saw nature, waiting to be captured through a lens.

In 2007, with some savings carefully shored up and the blessings of his wife and mother, Padichal decided to take the plunge. He sold his autorickshaw and bought his first camera.

“I struggled a lot at that time. I didn’t have much technical knowledge. But my love for nature and the support of my family helped me through,” says Padichal, 40.

“As a child, I would wander around riversides, explore hills and forests, watch birds and animals. My parents would scold me for doing this, but my childhood observations helped me to gradually understand different natural phenomena and the life cycles of different animals, birds and insects,” Padichal says. Water had always fascinated him, and so Pallom Oru Jeevabhayam explores the diverse ecosystems of rockpools, natural bodies of stored rainwater that form in the midland laterite hills near where Padichal grew up and lives.

These rockpools can be over 800 sq metres in size. They act as natural sanctuaries and watering holes for thousands of life forms. In the stunning footage captured in his documentary, birds sit silhouetted; jackals, snakes, frogs and spiders gather to stalk and feed. There is underwater footage of tadpoles and birds; a rare shot of a slender loris in the daytime; and tragic footage of birds building nests with plastic.

“Jayesh’s film about pallom is a brilliant and rare creation. Rare because this is the first time anyone has focused on these rarest of ecosystems in Kerala,” says senior wildlife filmmaker Suresh Elamon. “No one would believe the underwater shots are by an amateur. Jayesh, with no formal training in natural-history filmmaking, has proved that it is sheer passion that leads to creativity.”

Pallom Oru Jeevabhayam was possible because it became a passion project for all those involved: E Unnikrishnan (who helped with script and narration), Manoj K Sethu (editing and sound design), K Ramachandran (subtitles), Aju Ambattu (music), Anoop Whiteland (recording), Sony RK (production), Muhammed Junaid K (technical assistance).

Already in talks with the state government for awareness drives in the pallom, which are popular getaways for locals and face problems of littering as well as pollution, Padichal says he hopes his film can highlight how precious and delicate this ecosystem is, and why it needs to be protected.

His next two documentaries do the same for a river and a tree. Chaal (Malayalam for Creek), tracks the Karyankodu river across seasons, documenting life along it as well as its pollution; Maram (Malayalam for Tree) is a look at the mango tree as symbolic of how intrinsically man and trees are linked.

The message is the same in each: Everyone has to do their bit, Padichal says. “Control and get rid of pollutants that harm nature. When we enter into their environment, enter with a lot of care and consideration for birds, animals and other living beings.”