In a small village in Guntur, the land of chillies and tobacco, a unique local community set to work at shooting a film. The initial idea was to craft a comedy flick in Telugu; hiring locals as actors. Along the way, the outcome was a story about the actors themselves. For they were all Jewish, members of the small Bene Ephraim community of Andhra Pradesh.
The history of the Jews in India encompasses many migrations. Some arrived in Goa during the Portuguese and Spanish inquisitions, others came here many centuries earlier to Kerala. But one community claims an even older heritage – descent from the ten lost tribes of Israel. The Bnei Menashe, of India’s Northeastern states, claim descent from a Hmar figure named Manmasi – who they believe was none other than Manasseh, the son of Jacob.
Nearly 3,000 kilometres South West from Manipur, the Guntur Jews believe their ancestors left the Assyrian empire around 722 BC. For centuries, they wandered between Iran, Kashmir and Varanasi, before settling in Andhra Pradesh around 1100 A.D. When you walk into Guntur, many locals are completely unaware of this community’s existence – believing them to be Madiga Christians.
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