Kerala figures in US film on most amazing fireworks

IANS/Thrissur, KeralaThe festivities and fireworks at the Thrissur Pooram festival have stunned two US-based filmmakers who are making a movie on pyrotechnics across the globe. They have termed it one of the most amazing displays they have ever witnessed.The Veverka brothers - Jesse and Jeremy - both educated at the prestigious Cornell University, are making a full-length feature-documentary titled Passfire under their own production banner. The film features the world’s most amazing fireworks, the passionate people who make them and the cultures behind them.The duo was here last month to witness the Thrissur Pooram festivities, where the fireworks display is a much-talked about event by tourists who come from across the globe.“The objective of our film is to show people the various ways people use fireworks around the world and the joy fireworks bring,” Jesse Veverka said.Kerala by far has the biggest maroons, a type of round firecracker, that they have ever seen anywhere.In other countries, a maroon might be six or eight inches at the most, but in Kerala, they saw some as big as 30 inches in diameter, and weighing over 100kg. The only other country that makes such large shells is Japan, but those are built for colour, not sound.“In Kerala, fireworks are about flash and sound, not colour. We have never seen so many big and bright loud fireworks anywhere else. It was explained to us that in Hindu mythology, the sound honours gods such as Shiva and Rama,” said Jesse Veverka.“That is also unique - using fireworks to honour the gods,” said Jesse, who is an aerospace engineer but is passionate about fireworks.The duo plans to release the nearly two-hour-long film in 2015. The project is 100% privately funded by sponsorships from the fireworks industry and through crowdfunding, which entails raising money from private individuals.They have so far raised about 40% of the $250,000 expected cost of the film.Apart from India and the US, the brothers have visited, China, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand for the project and will soon travel to Malaysia, Mexico, Britain, Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, Portugal, Brazil, South Africa and Australia - and possibly more countries - to get a complete picture on fireworks.After traversing several places, Jesse Veverka said there was something different about fireworks in Kerala because people here send them aloft from holes dug in the ground rather than using launch tubes like in other countries.