SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2024
Daniel F De Souza
This is the ultimate truth of our life. But, when death
snatches someone young, when his living for a few more years could benefit
society at large, the tragedy of death is all the more unpleasant and painful.
It is here where one fails to understand the irony of life itself.
Veteran and respected tiatrist Anil Kumar passed away rather suddenly and untimely at dawn on February 6, 2015. Sixty-four years is surely not the age to die, especially when one is so full of life and energy to carry forth the mission in hand. Medical advancement and discovery of new drugs and state-of-the-art medical facilities in our country and the world have given longer life expectancy. We ponder to ask, why Anil Kumar had to be singled out to return back to His creator when he had several tasks on hand and the tiatrist fraternity needed him?
He was a reservoir of experience and knowledge right from the nuances of acting to direction, scripting, screenplay writing, lyrics writing and anything that had to do with theatre. Anil Kumar was for all reasons a director’s actor and an astute director himself. He had a helping nature and would reach out to anyone, even his juniors who aspired to find a foothold on the theatre stage. Many will vouch for this. Despite the pain and suffering he had to endure due to his diabetes, especially so during the last few months, his spirit was willing and he showed extraordinary courage by overruling the weakness of the body. He was last seen performing in the tiatr ‘Atankwadi Goyant Naka’ and it goes to his credit that Anil Kumar had a lion’s share in the success of this high profile tiatr. I personally met Anil at the ‘Meet The Artiste’ programme organised by TAG at the Ravindra Bhavan Black Box in Margao, on December 21, 2014 where Priti Lotlikar was the artiste of the month. That was the last time I could exchange a few thoughts on tiatr with him. As usual, he was ever willing to share any information vis-à-vis tiatrs.
Nobody on earth would have grudged if God in His infinite mercy had to look down upon Anil Kumar just once and offer him a few more years of life to fulfil his passion for tiatr. Diabetes mellitus, the silent killer, may have added yet another young victim to its growing statistics across the country. But why Anil Kumar? One may certainly ask. The only answer our sub-conscious mind would come up with is, it was his destiny.
Anil Kumar’s baptism in theatre began at an early age on the Marathi natak stage as a child artiste, while still a school student at the Lokmanya Tilak Vidyalaya at Virla Parle, Mumbai where he was residing with his maternal uncle. It was only in his later teens when he returned to Goa that Anil Kumar began his tryst on the Konkani stage with his first non-stop show professional assignment in Anton Moraes’ ‘Zolmachi Khomptti’. The rest, as they say, is history. From there on it was a new world of theatre for talented and theatre hungry Anil, who was later picked up by most of the senior and reputed directors of the tiatr stage.
Anil Kumar was a complete actor and could portray any role with perfection. His intensity as an actor was something that made him special in diverse roles. Despite coming from a Hindu background, Anil Kumar’s disposition on stage was something to be admired. He had the grace to capture the audience’s imagination and win their hearts merely with his body language and facial expression in any role he was called upon to portray. He sang, he danced, he romanced and he acted negative roles with ease and aplomb. This is what set him apart. Intelligent directors have in the past drew out his talents to the fullest and that is what took Anil to the pinnacle of success as an actor.
It was always a pleasure to talk to mild natured and soft spoken Anil on any subject concerning the tiatr stage. We had mutual respect for each other. He had loads of information to offer and spoke with authority and humility in equal measure. Occasionally, one could see that mischievous smile, but it was his heart of gold that shone the most.
In his sudden and untimely death the tiatr stage has lost a dedicated soldier who had many admirers. The stage has certainly been rendered poor. As a lyricist of songs he had a hidden poet somewhere within him. Rest in peace, Anil, you have played your role to the best of your ability. You helped many, but never made a show about it. You surely deserve rest. We now have only your sweet memories to cherish. We will never find another you.
