Documentary on India’s first woman photojournalist screened at BIC

On Wednesday, a documentary on India’s first woman photojournalist, Homai Vyarawalla, was screened at the Bangalore International Centre in Domlur. Homai passed away in 2012, aged 98.

In the 71-minute film, Homai recalls her journey into the world of photojournalism in a series of informal interviews at her home in Vadodara. She shares stories of her encounters with global leaders like Ho Chí Minh, Queen Elizabeth II, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Starting her career in the 1930s with The Bombay Chronicle, Homai later worked with the British Information Services’ Far Eastern Bureau. During this period, she captured historic moments such as WWII’s impact on India, the swearing-in of Independent India’s first government, and discussions on the India-Pakistan partition. She regrets missing the opportunity to photograph Gandhi’s assassination, she says in the film. The screening was attended by photojournalism students and senior citizens, among others. It was followed by a Q&A session with C S Lakshmi, director of the Sound & Picture Archives for Research on Women, the film’s producer.