KOCHI: Hollywood couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were in Kochi for a private visit along with their son Dylan Michael Douglas and daughter Carys Zeta Douglas, as a part of a tour of South India.
The family arrived in India to take part in the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on November 28, where the ace actor and producer was honoured with the prestigious Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinema.
The Hollywood family’s visit to the Queen of Arabian Sea was a low-key affair and their arrival was noticed only after they made a stop at Broadway Synagogue at Market Road to pray. And this came as a surprise for Kochi Jew Eliyas Josephai (also known as Babu).
“I had no idea that it was the famous Hollywood family coming over to the Synagogue for a visit. It was a very low-key affair and I am sure that nobody would have recognised the family as they strolled through the market,” said Eliyas.
The family spent some time inside the Synagogue where Michael Douglas sang the Jewish prayer song Adonai melech, Adonai Malach, Adonai yimloch l’olam vaed...
Michael Douglas, whose father is Jewish, started identifying as a Jewish person later in life. He now identifies as a Reform Jew.
His son, Dylan, had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony and the family travelled to Jerusalem to mark the occasion.
His visit to the Synagogue has got the Jewish community in the city excited.
Central Kerala, including Kochi and Kodungallur, is supposed to have had an active Jewish trading settlement from the time of King Solomon (950 BC). Their population in Kerala swelled when some of the Jewish families expelled from Iberia (Portugal and Spain) in 1492 by the Alhambra Decree, joined their co-religionists in Kochi.
Though a majority of the Jews migrated to Israel soon after its formation, there still exist a few families who continue to hold on.
The family had arrived in Kochi from Coorg in Karnataka. According to Eliyas, the family left for Chennai after visiting some iconic places in and around Kochi.