A poster of the film The Face of the Faceless. (Photo: Instagram)
Catholics in India have expressed delight after three songs from a movie based on the real-life story of a murdered nun made the eligibility list for the best original song category for the Oscars in 2024.
The three songs are from “The Face of the Faceless” — a biopic on the life and murder of Sister Rani Maria, a member of Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Church based in Kerala state in southern India said in a statement.
The songs "Barala Tribal Song," "Ek Sapna Mera Suhana," and "Jalta Hai Suraj" were composed by Alphons Joseph,” said the Dec. 19 statement.
The Malayalam and Hindi language-based movie was released last month. Thousands flocked to watch the film in theaters in Kerala, a Catholic stronghold.
“The movie is also a strong contestant for an Oscar,” the staement said quoting its director Shaison P. Ouseph.
Dubbed into Spanish and French, the film has so far won over 30 awards at various film festivals across the globe, said an official associated with it.
“It is a great joy for us to learn that songs from the biopic movie of Sr Rani Maria are competing for a prestigious Oscar award”, said Sister Selmy Paul, younger sister of the slain nun, also a member of the FCC.
“I feel very proud as this is a special blessing from God,” Paul told UCA News on Dec. 21.
“It is a great opportunity to highlight Sr. Rani Maria’s sacrifices and contributions to the mission of the Indian Church,” Paul added.
Kerala-born Rani Maria Vattali joined the FCC in 1971 and pronounced her final vows in 1980.
She was stabbed to death on Feb. 25, 1995, while on her way to Kerala from her workstation in Madhya Pradesh state in central India.
Her murderer, Samunder Singh, was reportedly hired by money lenders and landlords who opposed her work among villagers to make them economically independent.
Singh, then a 22-year-old, stabbed her on a bus in front of terrified passengers who did try to stop him.
The 41-year-old nun suffered 54 stab wounds and died by the roadside in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, one of the Indian states with a high level of Christian persecution.
Singh was convicted and jailed for the crime. However, the murdered nun’s family pardoned and accepted him as a family member.
In 2002, Sister Paul visited Singh in prison and tied a sacred thread called a “rakhi” on his wrist on the Hindu festival of siblings, Rakshabandhan (bond of protection), paving the way for his early release.
“We can’t humanly imagine making a movie on the martyrdom of a Catholic nun in the current hostile environment in the country, but it happened”, the nun said adding, “it is nothing but direct intervention of God”.
“It is a proud moment for us”, said Father Anand Chirayath, a Indore diocesan priest told UCA News on Dec. 21.
“The movie has helped to highlight the struggles of a missionary and it helped to a great extent to dispel the negative campaigns against missionaries working in northern part of India,” said the priest, an associate of the movie production team.
“The global competition entry of its songs is no doubt will further help highlight Indian mission life as the movie is based on real life story unlike any fictional movie” he added.
“It is a great pleasure that the movie is getting international attention,” said Father Patrick Joseph, a senior diocesan priest from Indore who knew the nun personally.
“The movie, no doubt will help showcase the difficulty in which our missionaries worked in those times without even road, proper transportation and other facilities,” Joseph told UCA News on Dec. 21.
The Vatican recognized the nun as a martyr and beatified her in 2017.
