To Rajdeep Naik, ‘All
the world’s a stage’! Passionate about theatre as a child, Rajdeep’s talent
came to fore while yet in school. “I started with one acts plays from sixth
standard itself, participating in many competitions. I continued as I went to
high school and thereafter, college. In fact, in the last year in college, as
the chairman of the organising committee, we held the first all Goa student
theatre convention for Konkani drama. I also made many presentations on
Akashwani,” recalls Rajdeep, who won several accolades for his acting and
directing prowess even back then.
Despite all the
encouragement he received at his academic level, Rajdeep, who was keen to take
dramatics as a career, could not find a suitable course in Goa. “I love arts,
particularly literature and drama, but there was no college in Goa for the
same. So I began my own professional drama group ‘Kala Chetana’ soon after I
passed out of college in 1998,” explains Rajdeep who is credited with being the
first to start a commercial Konkani drama group in Goa. “This Konkani natak
group is different from tiatr,” he clarifies. Since then, he has staged 45
original dramas and around 4,500 shows all over Goa. Having written two plays
himself, he has nonetheless roped in Goa’s best writers like Pundalik Naik,
Samrat Borkar and Dilip Kumar Naik, to name a few, to write some of his most
successful plays. But he credits his success to his teachers who not only
encouraged his talent, but guided him in the right direction.
Gathering a slew of
awards particularly from the Goa Konkani Academy – Yuva Chaitanya Awards, Goa
Srujan Award from the Art and Culture Department and the Asmitai Pratisthan –
Dr Kashinath Mahale Award, Rajdeep has taken Konkani and Marathi drama in Goa
to a higher level. He has raised the bar, further proving his versatility as a
film actor in ‘Home Sweet Home’ (2014), ‘Mortoo’ (2013), ‘Gunajee’ (2012) and
‘The Guest’ (Marathi) which garnered him awards at the Goa Talkies – Short Film
Carnival (2015) and at the Pune Film Festival as well.
Now as he continues
to make giant strides in his acting career, he advises students, “If you have a
talent, you must do something about it. Do not run mindlessly after government
jobs. With your talent, like me, you too can make a living and be successful at
it. Also, you can comfortably do it in your language, like I have.”