For centuries, long before Bombay became Mumbai, the city’s shoreline was sustained by its original custodians: the Kolis. The indigenous fisherfolk of this coast, the Kolis are woven into the cultural, economic, and culinary fabric of the Mumbai metropolis. Their songs and dances mark its changing seasons, their boats dot the creeks and harbours, and their seafood sustains the city’s insatiable appetite. Yet, as Mumbai has grown into a sprawling megacity, the very community that once gave it its identity faces mounting threats — displacement due to gentrification, erosion of their indigenous heritage, and the unpredictability of the Arabian Sea itself in the face of climate change.
The Locavore’s 'Mumbai Koli Project' is an impact campaign inspired by Sarvnik Kaur’s award-winning 2023 documentary film ‘Against The Tide’. The project aims to spotlight the city’s original fisherfolk, the Koli community, and their evolving relationship with the sea, while encouraging Mumbaikars to make more sustainable, seasonal, and inclusive seafood choices.
The film follows two Koli fishermen, Rakesh and Ganesh, close friends who embody divergent approaches to survival in an increasingly hostile seascape — one rooted in tradition, the other in technology. Their story, both intimate and universal, meditates on kinship, resilience, and the pressures small-scale fishers endure as coastlines transform.
The Mumbai Koli Project takes that narrative beyond the screen, extending it into public life through screenings, discussions, cultural events, and collaborations with the community. Led in close collaboration with Koli community leaders like Ganesh Nakhawa and supported by The Locavore, the campaign seeks to bridge the widening gap between those who eat seafood and those who harvest it. Its aim is to build empathy for the Kolis’ predicament and also to inspire more sustainable and seasonal consumption habits among Mumbai residents.
Among the campaign’s interventions is a series of free screenings of Against The Tide across Mumbai, taking place from August to November 2025, alongside conversations with director Sarvnik Kaur and representatives from the Koli community. Another initiative, Beyond the Plate, brings together experts to ask what the future of coastal food systems might look like, foregrounding the lived experience of fisherfolk amid ecological upheaval. The campaign also features A Dinner Against The Tide, an immersive culinary experience where chefs reimagine menus with lesser-known Koliwada seafood, positioning each dish within broader narratives about sustainability and heritage. Eating Against The Tide, a zine that records Koli recipes and rituals, complements these initiatives.
The campaign’s call for collaborators underlines its inclusive, intersectional, participatory spirit. From artists working with discarded fishing nets to chefs spotlighting overlooked species; from school educators creating youth workshops to Koli content creators sharing recipes and stories — the project invites concerned individuals and collectives to centre Mumbai’s original fisherfolk. “Success,” as Chef Thomas Zacharias, founder of The Locavore, says, “would mean that more people in Mumbai begin to recognise the Koli community not as a fading legacy, but as an essential part of the city’s living, breathing food culture.”
What gives the Mumbai Koli Project its urgency is the recognition that urban life is deeply entangled with cultural identity, ecological justice, and indigenous food systems. As Kaur herself says, her film was made in “deep collaboration” with the Koli community, whose “heroism in the face of climate catastrophe” deserves urgent attention not only in theatres but also in classrooms, courts, and across all levels of government. It’s a reminder that Mumbai cannot think of its future without honouring the Kolis who shaped its past and sustain its present. By turning cinema into action, the Mumbai Koli Project offers both a cultural reckoning and a blueprint for real-world, actionable, and material solidarity.
Watch the official trailer of ‘Against The Tide’ here:
Learn more about the Mumbai Koli Project here.
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