23 Aug 2020  |   04:08am IST

How the 'Boy' from Colva became a big man on stage in Goa

He is very young but has managed to carve a distinct niche for himself in the tiatr industry, Jonny Boy has displayed his talent in various plays in the short time he has been on stage

Team Herald

Sheer passion helped Jonny Boy to achieve his childhood dreams and attain success at every step he took on the tiatr stage. Jonathan Mark Diniz popularly known as Jonny Boy on the Konkani stage, was born on August 28, 2001 in Kuwait and brought up in Colva. Jonny Boy’s mother was a tiatr fan and would never miss a single tiatr, staged in the villages and cities. “And if she enjoyed any tiatr,” he said , “she wouldn’t mind watching it all over again, to the extent of watching the same show 3-4 times.”

“Her enthusiasm and enactment made me fall in love with tiatrs,” he confessed. Jonny Boy revealed his grandfather, late Marshall Lobo from Canaguinim, was a great drummer in the 90's and would accompany the band for weddings and tiatrs.

Then Comedian Aurelio, his paternal uncle, and comedian Ambe would take Jonny Boy along with them for tiatrs. “The negative roles picked up by Franky Gonsalves impressed me a lot and those mind-blowing acts motivated me to take up acting on stage” he said.

“Comedian Ambe’s comic acts were also another inspiration to me,” Jonny Boy said.

Finally, in 2013, he found an entry in comedian Ambe's tiatr ‘Cheddvam Tim Gaddvam Nhoi’, where he received good audience support, besides cash prizes for singing.

In the same year Jonny Boy made his debut in Sammy de Betul’s VCD ‘NCL-achim Noketram’. He also found entry in Menino Mario’s tiatr ‘Blackmail’ with minor roles of a beggar, DJ, besides managing the stage in the background. Ives Tavares introduced Jonny Boy in his tiatr ‘Sot Khuim Asa?’ in 2015. He also featured in tiatr ‘Amche Dhonde Sambhallat’ by the Betalbatim Youth.

Jonny Boy featured in Tiatr Academy Goa (TAG)’s Children’s Tiatr Competition 2015 in tiatr ‘Kiteak Lozta?’ by Menin Jesus Production, Colva. In the following year, Menino Mario introduced his nephew in folk plays (zomnivhele khell) during the Carnival festivity, besides rendition of a trio in tiatr ‘Khobro’. Jonny Boy was also part of folk plays presented by Benvera (Benjamin de Nagao) (2018), followed by Peter de Maina (2019) and Silva de Benaulim (2020) during the Carnival festival. His passion to play football in the neighbouring ward only helped Jonny Boy to encounter another writer and director, Valencio Vaz of Konkani VCD ‘Vadoll’.

A humble request initiated an entry in tiatr ‘Politician’ by JLC Production in 2016. In the same year, Pascoal de Chicalim introduced Jonny Boy in his tiatr ‘Anj Boddvo’ for rendition and comedy. In 2017, he was again roped for the Easter release ‘Vallti’ by JLC Productions.

Jonny Boy found a place for himself in Valencio de Caranzalem’s second ACD ‘Palkachim Sotam’ in 2017, apart from Lenten show ‘Tuka Nhoi Taka’ by the same director in 2018. But the two youngsters were seen rendering duos in tiatrs ‘Lojecho Xikko’ by Denzil Quadros (2016), ‘Senior Citizen’ by Menino de Bandar (2017) and ‘Swatch Bharat’ by Romeo and Santiago (2017).

When tiatr ‘Pedro Portuguese’ was in progress, comedian Putush introduced Jonny Boy to Prince Jacob. And when the tiatr director released his tiatr ‘Sun Hi-Fi Sasumaim Wi-Fi’ in October 2018, Jonny Boy was offered the main role in the production.

“To be a part of the commercial tiatr and tiatrists led by Prince Jacob,” says Jonny Boy, “was a dream come true.” “Entry there enabled me to enjoy the Mumbai tour. The production also completed 50 shows and for the golden jubilee show, Chris-Armand Presentation offered mementos to all the artistes.”

Jonny Boy continued with Prince Jacob for another two seasons, with various productions.

Seeking greener pastures, Jonny Boy flew to UK in March 2020. His presence is also felt in Konkani songs on YOUTUBE channel, which include ‘Love Is Blind’ (2018), ‘Utt Mhoje Dhuve (2019) and ‘Goa Lockdown’ (2020).