For most Konkani film lovers who have seen the film ‘Home
Sweet Home’, which completes 50 days in cinemas today, catching a different
side of noted tiatrist John D’Silva on screen was surely a treat. One of the
huge attractions for the film was casting John D’Silva as an NRI who returns
home. His comic timing is great and his scenes retain the same charm as his
witty one-liners on the stage.
John D’Silva is synonymous with tiatr in Goa. He has a tiatr for every season and tiatr lovers look forward to his every production. He started his career as an actor in 1987 in Lino’s tiatr, ‘Dhorm’. “My father Custodio was a tiatrist and he used to travel to far off places to perform tiatrs. I had grown up watching his performances which made me fall in love with tiatr too. Now, both my sons, Christ and Benhur, are also into tiatr. Though they are studying in higher secondary and college, they show the same enthusiasm towards performing on stage,” says John.
John directed his first professional tiatr, ‘Chuklele Roste’, in 1991, followed by tiatrs like ‘Chitrailolo Fator’, ‘Jith’, ‘Liplele Rupkkar’ and ‘Pujea’. “In 1996, I started my own production house under the banner SB Art for which I wrote, directed, produced and acted in 37 tiatrs. Under the same production house, I completed 25 tiatrs with double alphabets in the title and earned the Limca Book of Records for being the only Konkani tiatr director to do so. This Easter season, I will be presenting my 38th production, ‘Bombaddo’,” adds John. It took John nearly 12 years to complete this feat.
The tiatrs that continued after the record were ‘Devull’, ‘Kall’, ‘Kuttumb’, ‘Pisollem’, ‘Rochnnar’, ‘Volloklh’, ‘Sanklleo’, ‘Ranvotti’, ‘Goemkarponn’, ‘Koddu’, ‘Devosponn’ and ‘Zall’. Besides tiatrs, John has also produced nine VCD films, ‘Dudduvamkar’, ‘Fugddi’, ‘Jinn’, ‘Lofdde’, ‘Gondoll’, ‘Bhangoddeo’, ‘Bhognnar’, ‘Tallio’ and ‘Munna’. “Munna’ is currently only available for sale for my tiatr shows. The industry is facing a huge problem with piracy as the CDs are immediately copied and hampers the sale in stores.” ‘Ranni’ is the only audio CD produced by SB Art which features comedy songs.
‘Bombaddo’ will be released after the Lenten tiatrs. John is currently acting in Ireinu Gonsalves’ tiatr ‘Goem Goemkaranche’ and in the Lenten season, he will be performing in Lawry Travasso’s tiatr, ‘Sandelili Fullam’. “It is difficult to act in tiatrs when you have your own show running. But I am very picky when it comes to good tiatrs and I also have to see that the performances do not clash. I release my tiatrs every year for the Easter season and then the October season,” says John, who makes a living solely based on Konkani tiatrs and films.
Through his tiatrs, John has travelled to different countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Germany, Canada and United Kingdom. “I recently went to United States of America with Sammy Tavares for the first tiart to be staged in the USA, ‘Tim Thikam Sanddlelim.’
John has acted in numerous films like ‘Padri’, O Maria’, ‘Suring’ and ‘Uzvadd’ but two films that catapulted him to become the talk of the town were the consecutively released ‘Nachoia Kumpasar’ and ‘Home Sweet Home’. While ‘Nachoia Kumpasar’ is currently being screened in Margao and Vasco, ‘Home Sweet Home’ is being screened in Inox, Cine Ashok in Panjim, Cine Vishant in Margao and Cine Shivam in Vasco. “I am overwhelmed with the response the movie goers have shown towards my films. They have highly appreciated my work. The films are doing well because they are standard films with good scripts. ‘Home Sweet Home’ is completing 50 days in cinema halls today and has entered the eighth week in the cinemas,” says the Yuva Srujan Puraskar awardee.
What separated films from the live stage for him? “It feels good to be a part of a film as you have the liberty to move anywhere and show your expression and say your dialogues. On the contrary on the stage, you have to be conscious of where the mic is placed and whether your dialogue will be heard by the viewer sitting in the last row. You can only give a front profile performance for a stage performance while on the screen, even the slightest of expression is noticed. It is a very different experience for someone sitting in the front row for a tiatr and someone on the last row. While the front row audience can see the minute expression for the last row, I am just a one foot long performer.”
Speaking about his upcoming tiatr ‘Bombaddo’ and what it will offer tiatr lovers, John says, “The tiatr is based on the many shades of love as an emotion. It can be used to win favour and manipulate people. While some give their life for love, others have no value for the same emotion.”
John’s message for upcoming directors is “Put in your best in art and creativity and do it with all dedication. Never give up hope if you know you are heading in the right direction,” concludes John.