NACH GOENKARA NACH

In a path-breaking venture, a 13-episode television serial Nach Goenkara Nach will be shown on Panaji Doordarshan in December and later on cable network all over the state.

Disclosing this, Allen and Richard D'Costa, brothers, said it will be under the banner of MCC Audio Visual, Margao, shot entirely at Colva beach, featuring about 100 participants in different categories.

The seven categories include dances, solo, male and female, children under 10 and up to 14 years, solo, classical, group dance and duo performances. The idea is to uncover Goan talent, he said, the first time such a project has been undertaken.

Allen said a special camera team has been flown in from Bangalore and the entire shooting done with advanced equipment, including Betacam format cameras. Nach Goenkara Nach has been directed by Bhimrao Betageri Shrinivas, with Richard D'Costa as the executive producer. The show also hosts one of Goa's best comperes Updesh Swar, with Art Director Dyanesh Maghe. Stage effects and lights have been provided by Asis D'Souza and Avil the sound. A live-on-tape competition shot online is also being shown.

The D'Costas revealed they had bought a slot on Doordarshan of 25 minutes, of which three minutes is commercial time to be aired weekly, paying Rs 3,000 to Doordarshan per episode as spot buying fee. This is purely a dance competition, something like Boogie Woogie, they said. They used five Beta cameras and one digital from Bangalore. The editor and assistant editor for the online programme are also from Bangalore. There are no heroes or heroines, only Goan dance talent, said Allen.

So far, they have not been able to find sponsors for the commercials, said Allen, but are targeting fast moving consumer goods. Shrinivas, who has studied at the Film and Production Workshop in Bangalore, has directed two plays and worked for Shekhar
Kapoor's wife, Suchitra Krishnamurthy and Mani Ratnam's wife of Roja fame.

Shrinivas said there were no proper infrastructue facilities available in Goa. In Bangalore, they had Sun, Suprabhat, Kaveri channels and the Bangalore-based Kanada satellite TV channel, which was downloaded by Hong Kong Satellite transponder.

Allen, well-known for his sales and service of the latest electronic gadgets, went ahead with this Rs 10-lakh project on his own. "I know it is risky, but I have faith in what I am doing, and am confident that with the abundant talent in the state, I hope to do well," he said. He is keen on concentrating on the promotion of Konkani mandos and to come out with a video CD of Konkani mandos in Karaoke style. He also plans to release a video on the top bands in the state to make them familiar to the Indian audience, he said.