Filmmaker, 60, Builds No-WiFi Homestay Employing Village Women

At 60, most people retire. Vilas Kane walked away from a 30-year filmmaking career to build something that would outlast him.

The documentary filmmaker had spent decades filming the forests and villages of India's Konkan coast. But he noticed something troubling: visitors rushed through the region, seeing only beaches and missing the deeper culture.

In 2021, Kane restored his family's 100-year-old home in Jambhrun village, Ratnagiri. He kept the original character intact while transforming it into a unique homestay called Jambhrun Trails.

Here's the twist: there are no TVs, almost no internet, and barely any cell signal. Guests arrive glued to their phones and leave having rediscovered conversation.

But the real transformation happened for the women who run the place. Kane hired local women to cook traditional Konkani meals, host guests, and manage daily operations.

For many, it's their first paid work. Women like Anjali Shitut, Vaishali Shinde, and Deepti Shinde now earn independent income, making their own financial decisions for the first time.

The work brought more than money. The women speak of newfound confidence, dignity, and freedom to meet their own needs without asking permission.

Guests get far more than a bed. They take guided walks through a 400-year-old village with a still-functioning ancient water system. They eat meals cooked the traditional way, spend afternoons by the stream, and learn about local ecology and heritage.

The Ripple Effect

More than 2,500 travelers have visited Jambhrun Trails since it opened. But Kane isn't chasing growth or expansion.

His measure of success looks different. It's counted in the number of women earning with dignity, in guests who leave without checking their phones for days, and in a village identity preserved rather than commercialized.

The homestay proves what happens when someone chooses purpose over retirement. Kane created a space where city dwellers remember how to be present and village women discover economic power they never knew they had.

A filmmaker spent three decades documenting change; now he's creating it.