MONDAY, MAY 20, 2024
A legend of the tiatr movement, M Boyer's name is written in gold when it comes to the tiatr greats who made a difference in the world of drama. Having composed more than a thousand songs, he was one of the noted tiatrists who would receive encores and return to stage with a new verse amidst the sound of applause and whistles. October 11 was his 92nd birth anniversary and it is important to remember this tiatrist as he has contributed so much to tiatr that he was awarded by three presidents with three national awards. He was honoured for his Distinguished Services by the then President of India Giani Zail Singh, on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee Celebration of Goa's Liberation in 1986. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the then President of India, Shankar Dayal Sharma in 1994-95 and he awarded the Padmashri award by then President of India, Dr Abdul Kalam in 2005.
Born Manuel Santana Aguiar in 1930 to Sebastiao Floriano Aguiar and Mariquinha Luis, M Boyer went on to write, direct and produce a number of tiatrs besides composing over a thousand songs. A noted actor and singer, he performed in different cities across the world including London, East Africa and the Middle East, regions where Goans longed for a taste of tiatr.
M Boyer's eldest sister, Rosita Aguiar's son, Steve Rod from St Cruz, is one of the few family members who is still keeping his memory alive. "My uncle was the only son in a family of five sisters. He was born after three sisters, and in Goa they call that son a 'Tiklo' and they say he is very lucky, while it is the opposite for a girl child. He was married to late Eufregina Marta De Sousa from Anjuna and they had five sons, Sebastian, Remus, Stanford, Errol and Sywald. They are now living in France, Dubai and UK. They travel to Goa quite often, however, post Covid-19, they couldn't make a trip to Goa. Two of his sons, Remus and Errol were also featured in one of M Boyer's music CDs. I was a part of his tiatr troupe and when I was introduced they called me, 'M Boyer's nephew and Jacinto Vaz's neighbour'," says Steve with a smile as he reminisces about his uncle.
While Steve calls his uncle a visionary when it came to composing songs and writing scripts, he emphasises on the fact that he was also a family man. "People know him as a great tiatrist and he was born to be a tiartist, but I would like to stress on the fact that he was also a complete family man. In those days, tiatrs used to go on through the night till sunrise. His sons were students of Loyola High School, Margao, and he would go to drop them to school every morning after the tiatr. His wife was also very supportive and without a good wife, they say you cannot have a good life," says Steve, who worked as a stage manager for M Boyer.
His expertise in writing came through his promptness of writing and performing songs. Steve says, "I used to stay with him when I was young and I used to be in awe of how he used to write a song in the night and sing it the very next day. There were no means to record then, so you had to rely on paper and pen. Within a week, he would finish the script of a tiatr. He had a beautiful handwriting and would give me his notes for prompting behind the stage. But not once did I assist him as he always remembered the lyrics. He would never miss his words and would sing them fluently."
As part of the concluding ceremony of 125 years of tiatr celebrations, noted Goan cartoonist Alexyz displayed his caricatures of 104 great tiatrists at an exhibition at Kala Academy on April 16, 2018. One of the tiatrist was M Boyer. "My best experience with M Boyer was almost 20 years back when I created his caricature of my exhibition at Menezes Braganza Hall, Panjim. He especially came all the way from Raia to view the exhibition and his posed in the same way next to his caricature. I was honoured to see him and that pose made everyone laugh. The second time, I paid tribute to him was through caricature again for the 125 years of tiatr celebrations. There was an exhibition sponsored by the Tiatr Academy of Goa at Kala Academy, Panjim, and the book release of ‘Caricatures of 100 Great Tiatrists,’ featuring 100 tiatrists in 2018. Unfortunately, he didn't live to see that day. He was one of the tiatrists who spoke out for the Konkani agitation and he always supported Konkani," says Alexyz from Siolim.
Tomazinho Cardozo has been following the life of M Boyer very closely and was inspired by not just his tiatrs but also his spirit to work towards Romi Konkani. "M Boyer was supporting Konkani in the Romi script and he was all for Konkani. His work focused on preserving and promoting Konkani, whether through his songs or through different movements, where he sang Konkani songs," says Tomazinho.
Unfortunately, his legacy has not been recorded well on film and on print, there are very few books which mention his contribution to the Konkani stage, including '100 years of Konkani Tiatr' which was written in 2000, nine years before his death, and 'When the Curtains Rise: Understanding Goa's Vibrant Konkani Theatre' by André Rafael Fernandes in 2010. "After Liberation, post 1961, M Boyer came back to Goa and staged his tiatrs and travelled to different places. Soon after he passed away, his wife also expired. All his five sons are abroad and his nephew, Steve Rod is in contact with them. When I was heading the 125th anniversary of tiatr celebration committee, we staged four classic tiatrs of yesteryears which included tiatrs by Nelson Afonso, Remmie Colaco, Prem Kumar and M Boyer. It was difficult to get the permission from his sons as they are not here, but through Steve, we could connect to his sons and go ahead with staging 'Ekuch Rosto'," explains Tomazinho.
In 1984-85, M Boyer was conferred with the State Cultural Award by Government of Goa, Daman & Diu. Tomazinho adds, "He was one of the best tiatrists of the Golden Era of Tiatr. He was a full time professional tiatrist and was prompt to compose and sing a song on stage. He was the only tiatrists of that time to get recognition on the national level."
