By DANIEL F DE SOUZA

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL performance of his latest tiatr “Mhaka Soeg Dieat” at Delhi recently, under the auspices of ‘Goenkarancho Ekvott’ an organisation of Goans settled there, Pal Soares the writer and producer, staged the tiatr for the last time at the Gomant Vidya Niketan Margao. Veteran and experienced stage artist Felcy directs the show thereby giving it a lot of weightage.

The writer has put in a lot of effort to weave an interesting and touching tale. Pal Soares has been trying to make a noticeable dent in this highly competitive segment for quite some time now and with this show he is inching closer to his goal. However he still has to bring forth something extraordinary to raise his popularity graph as a writer-producer. Pal Soares definitely has a lot of potential to make it big someday in the not too distant future.

“Mhaka Soeg Dieat” is a tale of Douglas, the only son of Melba (Aplon) and Rosemond (Mario), who goes to London to complete his higher studies in medicine and goes on to become a neuro surgeon. While in London he falls in love with Samantha (Felcy). And to the horror and shock of his parents down in Goa, Douglas returns back to Goa with not only a degree in Neurosurgery but is also happily married to Samantha without the knowledge and consent of his parents.

However, he does not bring his wife Samantha along with him to Goa. Rosemond just can’t take this behaviour of his son and there is a rift between the two. The adamant father makes it a prestige issue, however the mother later reconciles.

The son is finally forced to leave his home and he returns back to London to his wife. He has no mind to visit his parents in Goa, though his wife wants to visit them together with their ten year old daughter Natasha (child artist Myra Baptista). Finally Samantha lands in Goa one fine day with her daughter Natasha and it is here that the story takes a different turn altogether.

“Mhaka Soeg Dieat” moves at a slow pace during the first half, but, soon after the interval the viewer is treated to some fast-paced events that change the colour of the plot which makes it more interesting. Pal keeps the audience in suspense for a major part of the second half and handles the plot well to bring out the suspense with conviction. Love, sacrifice and tragedy are nicely interwoven to make “Mhaka Soeg Dieat” a touching tale in the end. The child artist Myra excels in her role and is very natural, thereby winning the hearts of the audience.

While Mario is a strict and unforgiving father, it is Aplon who plays a very sensitive and sober role of the mother, if only she could do a little more of character to suit her age as the grandmother in the second half, it would add more reality. Felcy plays the confident role of a young wife and has good dress sense suiting the role. She sings the ‘Kantos’ with her melodious voice and emotes well as she tries to win the heart of her adamant father-in-law.

The comedy by Anju as Dumentin, Socorro as Popsy her good-for-nothing son, and Cyril as Miguel Caetan, the handicapped husband of Anju, stretches every muscle to make the audience laugh. The comedy does evoke laughter but, in patches. Pal Soares would do well to rope in some recognised comedians if he has to enhance the appeal of his play in future. Pal has introduced some new faces in Frankey and Douglas who are promising in their respective roles.

There are a good number of songs comprising mostly of decent and comedy solos, and duets. The opening song has some good lyrics rendered by Camilo in style. But, despite having a fairly good cast of established singers, a trio which is a must for tiatr was badly missing. T. Briton sings two comedy songs, while William de Curtorim comes out with two political solos. Camilo the singer with a melodious voice and good style sings a good decent solo and Bab Andrew and Francis de Tuem combine well to sing on the fallout of IFFI projects. Felcy and Jr. Rod give a duet and later a solo each. Pal could have somehow still squeezed in a solo of Bab Andrew who is very popular with the tiatr goers. But it was ridiculous of Francis de Tuem to sing a solo ‘Polkem Vhoddponn’ which he sings as the title song on his latest audio cassette/CD of the same name released a few weeks ago. Those who have already heard the song on the cassette or CD will certainly feel cheated despite the song having some meaningful lyrics.

Zacharias Lobo together with Agnelo Lobo have provided fairly good music and there was scope to do even better, but the light effects left much to be desired. Pal Soares certainly has the potential to produce some good plays with a message, however he will have to pay a lot more attention to the comedy which in present times forms an essential part of the play to make the play an instant hit.

Axirvad : Comedian Jesus Antao is giving final touches to his latest comedy video film ‘Axirvad’ which is scheduled to be released shortly. ‘Axirvad’ is produced by V.P. Sinari. Renowned Goan photographer and cameraman Dyanesh Moghe who has earlier telefilm hits like ‘Kanteantlem Ful’ etc, has shot the film and edited it with his technical team from Kolhapur.

‘Axirvad,’ which was completed recently, was shot at various picturesque outdoor locations in South Goa. Pravin Naik has composed the music for the film. ‘Axirvad’ has a strong cast of Peter-Roshan, Anil Kumar, Wilson Mazarello, Irene Vaz, Clara, Cruz Mascrenhas, Benny, Spica Gracias, Comedian Marcus, Comedian Joanna and Jesus Antao. The writer-director Jesus Antao promises ‘Axirvad’ to be a hundred percent comedy film with a mass appeal among the Konkani-speaking people.

(Goan Observer)