Making an impact on Goa’s cultural scene

Pio Esteves

Cezar Aleixo Jose Fernandes de Melo, known as Cezar D’Melo on the tiatr stage, hails from Panjim. Born and brought up in the city, his talents include acting, singing, dancing and writing plays.

At the tender age of nine, Cezar would go with his father, Joao Luis de Melo, to watch tiatrs presented by Mumbai tiatrists and staged at Azad Maidan and Patto in the city. “After watching tiatrs of noted directors, I would return home and write down their scripts (discarding them later). That’s how I developed the art of scripting tiatrs,” he informs.

When priests would pen and stage tiatrs for various festive occasions, Cezar would feature in them along with his father and sister, Pia D’Melo. He would also script biblical plays and stage them during Christmas season at the Immaculate Conception Church square.

Cezar’s dramatic mettle was rightly recognised by late Nelson Afonso who introduced him in his tiatr ‘Árso’; this was his first entry on the professional stage and it led to the formation of formidable trio MIL-MEL-NEL which became an instant hit in Goa as well as Mumbai. They went on to perform with veteran directors like C Alvares, Robin Vaz, John Claro, Bab Peter-Ophelia, Betty Ferns, M Boyer, Fr Planton Faria, Mike Mehta, Valent Mascarenhas, Mario Menezes, Maxie Pereira, Menino de Bandar and others.

“When the trio was signed for Prem Kumar’s tiatr ‘Vantte’, the director requested us to avoid political songs and so the trio rendered one political song and a decent comedy,” he shares.

In 1974-75, at the age of 20, Cezar had his first opportunity to direct a tiatr, ‘Eksurem Jivit’ by Bernard D’Silva, at Kala Academy’s annual tiatr competition. Thereafter, he scripted and staged his first tiatr ‘Konn Kirmidor’ at KA’s tiatr competition in 1976-77 and bagged the first prize.

Cezar established his own dramatic troupe ‘Çezar Dramatic Troupe’ in the mid ‘80s and had the honour of continuously winning prizes in the state tiatr competitions organised by Kala Academy. His first prize winning tiatrs include ‘Konn Kirmidor?’ (1976-77), ‘Kal ani Aiz’ (1982-83), ‘Kalliz Ostorechem’ (1983-84) and ‘Kednanch Ghoddchenam’ (1985-86).

His second prize winning tiatrs are ‘Kitem! Tum Mhozo? (1978-79), ‘Konn Zai? (1979-80), Konnuch Noko (1982-83) and ‘Kaide Konnak?’ (1984-85). ‘Kirmidoracho Rosto’ (1980-81), ‘Kaliz Naslolo’ (1986-87) and ‘Kolakar’ (1988-89) were awarded third prizes. ‘Visvasi vo Ghatki’, ‘Konknni Machie Fattlean’ and ‘Kallo Fator’ are his other directorial ventures.

Cezar has also written and presented musical plays on AIR which include ‘Kalljivont Nazia’, ‘Khoro Mog’, ‘Konknni Machier Oxem Ghoddta’, ‘Abgath’, ‘Soddvondar’, ‘Fattim Pavlo’, ‘Adhar’, ‘Asro’, ‘Kor Kazar’, ‘Kolakar’, ‘Kallo Dhondo’ and ‘Kelelea Mapan Gheta’. Some of his one-act plays include ‘Azilo Mhojem Bhirad’ and ‘Akrek Sudorlo’. ‘Bhurgim ani Doth’, a Konkani drama (in nattak form) was written and presented by him at KA’s annual nattak competition.

Most of Cezar’s tiatrs, one-act plays and musical plays on AIR have ‘K’ as the first letter and he believes that it has brought him luck on the tiatr stage. “As soon as I presented my first tiatr ‘Konn Kirmidor’ and won the first prize, my next tiatr, ‘Visvasi vo Ghatki’, failed to win a prize. So I decided to pen all my tiatrs with ‘K’ as the first initial and it worked, helping me win prizes,” he reveals.

In 1987, Cezar participated as dancer-cum-musician for Timoteo’s folklore troupe in the Goan Elnish Festival organised by Elnish Group of Companies in Dubai. He has also participated in various festivals organised by Indian Cultural Club, Dubai and Sharjah.

Cezar has acted and rendered songs in over 50 tiatrs. He has one video album ‘Vazouia Kumpasar’ and two audio albums ‘Obsoeg vo Abgath’, a musical play on AIDS and ‘Goa’s Rumblé’ to his credit.

In 1981, Cezar joined the Education Department and continued his services there till 1985. Thereafter, he joined the Sports and Youth Affairs Department in 1986 and later the cultural section was converted to Art and Culture Department, which formed an independent body. He continued his service there as assistant cultural officer and retired as a government employee in 2016.

For his immense contribution towards tiatrs, one-act plays and folk plays, Cezar was also invited to serve in the panel of judges for a number of tiatr and song competitions organised by Kala Academy and Tiatr Academy.

Under the banner Çezar Dramatic Troupe, Cezar has published tiatr books which include ‘Kal ani Aiz’, ‘Kolakar’, ‘Kalliz Ostorechem’, ‘Kallo Fator’, ‘Kaide Konnank’ and ‘Kirmidoracho Rosto’. He has plans of releasing his tiatr ‘Kallo Dhondo’ in book form in April; it will also feature screenplay ‘Khell Jivitacho’ and non-stop tiatr ‘Kor Kazar’.

Cezar has also featured in Hindi serials on TV and films where he portrayed minor roles. In ‘Mera Yaar Mera Dushman’, he portrayed the role of a Catholic priest; in ‘Pukar’, he featured in a dance sequence with Amitabh Bachchan and Randhir Kapoor. He also donned the role of King Momo for Carnival in 2011 and for Lusofonia Games carnival float in 2014. He was also a renowned footballer who wore colours for clubs such as Panjim Gymkhana, Young Challengers, Alto Guimaraes and MICPA in the past.     

Besides being honoured during the silver jubilee celebrations of tiatr by Kala Academy and various other cultural institutions, Cezar received the Tiatr Academy’s Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr Award (non-commercial) in January 2017.

Cezar’s wife, Lydia D’Melo, who presently serves in Bombay High Court, was a co-partner in tiatrs before marriage. His son, Kevin D’Melo, is a film actor and a theatre art teacher in schools, while his daughter Karen D’Melo, is presently with the Prime.