Theatre in Goa in any form and language is an extension of our culture and there are very dedicated artistes who are keeping this tradition alive. Two theatre personalities, Pradeep Naik and Satish Narvekar, have dedicated decades of their lives to the stage. Pradeep Naik was recently awarded the National Kala Ratna Award and Satish Narvekar was awarded the National Kala Bhushan Award by Shikshan Vikas Parishad.
The felicitation programme of said awards will be organised at the 22nd conference of Shikshan Vikas Parishad, which will be held in November this year at Sangli, Maharashtra. “Shikshak Vikas Parishad has been established by state and national award winning teachers from India. Besides the conferences and workshops, which are being organised since 1997, contributors to the fields of education, social, art, literature, industry, agriculture and science are also felicitated,” says Pradeep Naik about the association.
Originally from Carambolim, Pradeep Naik was born and brought up in Morjim under the guidance of his grandfather Pandurang Mayenkar. He started acting in Marathi ‘natak’ at the age of 5. With a career spanning over 40 years, Pradeep has won prestigious awards like the Shankar Ghanekar Award, Gulab Award and several acting awards from Kala Academy for Marathi plays and tiatr. He received five Best Actor State Awards for acting in tiatrs ‘Novo Dis Udetanam’ (2011), ‘Mog Mogan Jiye’(2012), ‘Sounsar Budla’(2014) , ‘Pai’(2015) and ‘Strike’(2016) at the Popular Tiatr Festival organised by Tiatr Academy, Goa.
“I love acting in tiatrs; I have many Catholics friends who help me with my Konkani accent for the tiatrs. Though the words are said differently, the acting elements are the same,” says Pradeep, who is the first Goan actor to have six of his films and short films screened during the International Film Festival of India, Goa.
Pradeep has acted in Marathi, Hindi, Konkani and English dramas and films. He has also acted in many programmes on All India Radio and Doordarshan. He has written and published a short essay book ‘Pairchich Gazal’. Currently employed at Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa, he is working in a Konkani film, ‘Padrik Nanv Na’ in which he will be portraying the role of a priest. "I don’t get time to watch plays and films but I read a lot, especially about characters which can help my acting calibre. I love reading autobiographies about actors who share their acting journey,” he says. He is currently part of Comedian Agostinho’s tiatr troupe.
Satish Narvekar too was brought up surrounded by theatre actors and drama lovers. Born and brought up in St Inez, Panjim, he was a stone’s throw away from Kala Academy, the hub for all cultural activities. “I would walk to Kala Academy in the evenings to see nataks, dramas and tiatrs. My cousin, Devidas Amonkar, was the founding member of Rudreshwar Panaji, a well-known cultural organisation working in the field of Art and Culture in Goa for the last 23 years. I used to be in awe of the actors and dramas. Through my school and college at St Xavier’s College, Mapusa, I was part of every vernacular theatre festival and competition that were organised in Goa,” says Satish, who besides theatre, loves playing cricket.
A director, light designer, set designer, costume designer and music designer, Satish has been a part of more than 60 one act plays in Marathi, Hindi, Konkani and English and has more than 600 shows to his credits. He has also acted in three short films and directed one short film. He is working as a secretary of Rudreshwar Panaji. He has also presented plays on All India Radio and Doordarshan. He has worked as a theatre artist in Kala Academy’s Rangamel and also as a senior producer and Radio Jockey at 92.7 Big FM.
Most recently, Satish directed the play ‘Vakshak‘, which was written by Vishnu Surya Wagh and was presented at Asia’s most prestigious and India’s biggest drama festival ’Bharat Ranga Mohotsav’ organised by National School of Drama, New Delhi in 2016. “It was a huge honour as there were nearly 1,000 international plays which were submitted, from which 80 were selected,” he says. He has also participated in the Colombo International Theatre Festival, Sri Lanka in 2015.
Satish has worked with directors like Padmashri Bansi Kaurl, Afsar Husai, Vidyneedhi Vanarase, Devidas Amonkar, Deepak Amonkar and M Saffer from Sri Lanka. “I love watching experimental plays as they have much more to offer for an actor. I make it a point to watch every play, natak that is performed in Goa as it helps me grow as a theatre artisty,” he concludes.