“Earlier, my day would begin before sunrise and end long after everyone had eaten,” says Anjali Sameer Shitut. “I am a police patil (village level law enforcement officer), and I am also a homemaker. I managed my official duties, my household, cooking, and cleaning. That was my routine. I never thought I would earn in a way that made me feel independent.”

“For me, it was always housework and family. If I needed money, I had to ask someone at home. Sometimes, I felt embarrassed asking for money for my personal needs. I always dreamt of doing something that would allow me to stand on my own feet and manage my own expenses,” says Vaishali Shinde.

In Jambhrun, a small village tucked into the folds of Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district, mornings once unfolded in predictability. Women swept courtyards before sunrise, stacked wood for cooking fires, drew water from the wells, and prepared meals to sustain their families. Their days followed a cycle of essential, unending work, yet they were rarely rewarded with personal income or recognition. Beyond these daily routines, few people even knew the village existed. Tourism was minimal, and it remained a hidden corner, untouched by visitors and the wider world.

Today, the same village hums with a different energy. Travellers from cities arrive not for luxury, but for stillness. They come seeking clean air, unfiltered water, conversations without screens and food cooked over wood fires. They come to stay at ‘Jambhrun Trails’.

And somewhere between the arrival of guests and the slow beat of village life, something heartfelt has shifted for its women.

At the centre of this change are 60-year-old documentary filmmaker Vilas Kane and his wife, 55-year-old researcher and co-host Sucheta Vilas Kane. But the story does not begin with them. It begins with listening.

A life spent documenting the Earth

Vilas began his career in 1993 as a still photographer. By 1998, he had transitioned into documentary filmmaking, drawn instinctively towards stories of forests, rivers and fragile ecosystems. Over the next three decades, he created more than 150 films on water conservation, wildlife protection, sacred groves, and rural livelihoods.

His documentary Just Another Death, exploring snake roadkills across Maharashtra, was nominated at the VATAVARAN International Environmental Film Festival and screened at platforms across India and abroad. He also worked as an additional cameraman on Indian Leopards - The Killing Fields, telecast on National Geographic and Discovery.

For 14 years, he documented hydroelectric projects such as Koyna and Ghatghar in Maharashtra, Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. He witnessed rivers being redirected, valleys reshaped, and communities adapting.

“But the more I travelled, the more I realised that sustainability is not a concept. It is a lived practice in villages,” Vilas reflects.

For nearly 25 years, he documented the Konkan region, producing over 30 films and coffee table books about its geography, biodiversity and culture. Still, he felt an unease. “People visited Konkan for the beach and seafood,” he says. “They never stayed long enough to understand the land.”

As he approached 60, he began to think about slowing down. Not retiring, but grounding himself. “I did not want to keep chasing assignments. I wanted to create something meaningful in one place,” he explains.

The stillness that started it all

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a standstill. The cameras fell silent, and the world stopped moving. In that pause, an idea........

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