Rewarded for his talent

Antonio Jose D’Souza, popularly known as Joe de Cavelossim, developed a liking for the stage at the tender age of 10. His father, late Francis D’Souza, known as Jimmy Boss on the tiatr stage, was a tiatrist.

“Noted tiatrists and singers like Anthony/Conception/Nelson, Young Menezes and Aleixinho de Candolim would come and rehearse for tiatrs at our residence,” informs Joe. “One fine day, my dad asked me whether I was interested in singing and he taught me a ‘kunbi’ song,” he adds.

When the tiatr ‘Dhormacho Bavtto’ was staged in Cavelossim and Joe rendered the typical traditional song in style, spectators from the audience offered him cash prizes and that incentive served as a boost to move forward.

Another fellow villager, Casmiro Noronha, who was a seafarer, would pen and teach ‘zomnivhele khell’. Seizing the opportunity, Joe joined him to perform in the village, while also acting in mestri Inas’s Carnival khells in Mobor.

Next, Joe de Cavelossim acted in three tiatrs of one director from Fatrade and those performances were mainly in the villages. Besides acting, he was also interested in composing and rendering songs on stage.

After winning a cash prize in a tiatr staged in Fatrade, Joe’s photo appeared in the Konkani newspapers ‘Sot’ and ‘Uzvadd’. He reveals that Jose Manuel Pereira, who was then the editor of one Konkani newspaper, gave him the title ‘Joe de Cavelossim’.

After being noted as an actor and singer, Joe de Cavelossim started rendering songs for several tiatrs held in his village.

When fellow villager Lawry Pereira presented his tiatr ‘Adhunik Bhatti’ for Kala Academy’s annual tiatr competition, the entire cast comprised people of Cavelossim and Joe was instrumental in composing all the songs and cantos. “As the artistes were weak in singing,” he reveals, “all the songs and cantos were rendered from backstage while the artistes lip-syncedon stage.”

The drama moved smoothly, performance-wisebut it missed winning a prize. Joe did win the first prize in solo category, while Martha won the first prize in acting.

Joe de Cavelossim’s tryst with acting started with the tiatr ‘Adhunik Bhatti’, which featured in KA’s tiatr competition. He continued to develop his acting skills with Raju Miranda’s tiatr ‘Rogot’, which was performed in neighbouring villages.

“Three days before the tiatr ‘Rogot’ could be staged in the village, my mother passed away. Despite our loss, my father encouraged me to go ahead and participate. ‘On account of one person or incident, thousands of spectators should not suffer,’ he told me. Hence, without donning on the costumes, I stayed in my mourning clothes and performed as an actor and singer,” reveals Joe.

Besides stage performances as an actor and singer, Joe de Cavelossim also rendered his services as master of ceremonies (MC). On one occasion, when noted director, Patrick Dourado’s prompter, Babu, noticed his talent, he immediately informed Patrick.

During that period, Joe de Cavelossim served as an apprentice at Shantilal Services at Fatorda and would cycle it out from his village to his workplace.When he was at work, Patrick and Babu visited Joe’s residence and left a note to meet up at Bombay Café. He was excited and after the meeting, Patrick Dourado introduced him in his tiatr, ‘Niraxi’, where he enacted the role of a police officer. For the first show at Mandop, Navelim, Joe won a cash prize for his performance and his enthusiasm increased.   

For 12 long years, Joe de Cavelossim was part of Patrick Dourado’s dramatic troupe and for his enactment in tiatr ‘Dev Borem Korum’, he won 18 cash prizes, while for tiatr ‘Varem’, he received 14 cash prizes at different venues. Simultaneously, he also acted in tiatr ‘Noora’, presented by Minguel de Benaulim and wherever it was staged, he won cash prizes for acting.

In 1980, Joe de Cavelossim proceeded to the Gulf and after a brief stay abroad, returned to his roots in 1982. At that time, Patrick Dourado’s sensational tiatr ‘Ostori’ was making waves; Joe joined them and excelled in his performance. He also made an appearance in tiatr ‘Tem Koxem Melem’.

During his performances in Patrick Dourado’s tiatrs, Roseferns invited Joe de Cavelossim to perform in his tiatr ‘Nimnni Chitt’. He has also performed in Menino de Bandar’s ‘Indiechi Maim’, which depicted the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Besides performing for several directors, Joe de Cavelossim also penned and directed his own tiatrs which include ‘Chuk Konnachi?’, ‘Mhozo Put’ and ‘Ghara Maim’. ‘Mhozo Put’ and ‘Ghara Maim’ completed 24 shows in the villages,” he reveals.

Joe de Cavelossim’s wife, Rofina D’Souza, is also an actor and appeared in his tiatr ‘Ghara Maim’, winning cash prizes for acting.

Apart from contributing in acting and singing for directors in villages, Joe has also acted in tiatrs presented by late Jacinto Vaz, Philip de Orlim, Salvador Afonso, Ligorio Fernandes, Peter/Roshan and several others.

Although Joe de Cavelossim is comfortable in composing songs and renditions, he has a deeper love for acting and is still active on stage. He was last seen in  Seby de Varca’s tiatr ‘Tujea Ugddasak’ and won four cash prizes for his acting skills.

Joe de Cavelossim states that some actors and singers today cannot make it to the stage unless they have a drink as an energiser. “Drinking and performing on stage cannot go together,” he believes, and reveals that till date, he has never touched drinks.

For his immense contribution towards the tiatr stage, Joe received the Lifetime Contribution Award in 2014 and was felicitated by the 125th Tiatr Celebrations Committee as part of the tiatr anniversary celebrations.