Four years back, Benhur Silva started out with a dream, and now
with the completion of the Goa’s first Konkani web series, ‘The Malkiryads,’ he
has not only gained a wide viewership online but also received love and
appreciation from the audience and a family of the young cast crew. ‘The
Malkiryads’ will be screening its final season on the big screen at Ravindra
Bhavan, Margao on September 16 from 7 pm onwards.
Benhur Silva and his team at Ethereal Productions will release
the final season whose story revolves around four friends, Nond, DJ, Caitu, and
Paklo, and their journey through college and how their life takes a drastic
change when they decide to start a business. The series is directed by Benhur
Silva with the story, screenplay, dialogues and editing by his elder brother,
Christ Silva. Cinematography is by Jay Parwar. The cast includes Dattej Naik,
Ujwala Pednekar, Aditya Naik, Mayura Faldessai, Ravi Kumbar, Benhur Silva and
John D’Silva.
Benhur and Christ are sons of John D’Silva, also known as The
Emperor of Konkani Stage. Ethereal Productions on YouTube, has over 22,000
subscribers and over 18 lakh views.
Speaking about the response garnered from the audience, Silva
calls it’s phenomenal and the reason for the third season, “The response has
been phenomenal. After season one, everyone was eagerly waiting for season two
and were excited. And since season two ends on a cliff-hanger, people were
waiting for the past two years for the third season which got postponed due to
the pandemic. I used to receive messages almost every day from people asking
about season three. I’m sure they are all pumped up for the premiere on
September 16.”
This season, the average length of each episode is 27 minutes
with a total of five episodes and the total runtime will be two hours and 15
minutes. Silva gives an insight into the various themes that have been explored
through the three series, “There is a major story track that runs as each
episode progresses and there are many episodic stories/incidents that happen
which teach the audience something. In season one, there is a part about
college romance and the bitter truth that follows post break up. In season two,
there is a part where the group learns to deal with doing everyday chores in
the hostel which teaches them to be independent. In season three as well, there
are many small topics we tried to touch upon that also helps in the character
development and gives a message to the viewers. The main story is however,
about a group of college friends and how their life changes when they decide to
start a business.”
The youth can immediately connect with the series for its fun
loving and easy going characters, which one surely encounters in their college
life. “The best thing about ‘The Malkiryads’ is that it’s about college life. A
lot of the youngsters find it easily relatable. Working young men and women
watch it as it makes them feel nostalgic about their college life. The series
is mainly in Konkani but the language that we have used in the series is the
one how friends communicate and doesn’t have any complicated words which common
man may find difficult to comprehend,” explains Silva.
Ravi Kumbar, who plays the role of Caitu, one of the friends, in
the series has a bittersweet moment while sharing his experience of shooting
for the finale. “The last day of the shoot was very emotional. We began
shooting for the series, back in 2019 and we are just like a family and to
think that we won’t be meeting again and shooting, is heartbreaking. But I
guess as they say, all good things come to an end. It was a great experience
because this was my first time acting and everyone loves my character, Caitu. I
learnt a lot about how filming is done, getting my emotions right, and
dialogues delivery as I don’t have any history of acting. It was also a
challenge to deliver the punch lines of a joke,” says Kumbar.
The only known face for Kumbar on the first day of shoot was his
classmate, Benhur. Yet the cast and crew immediately jelled well on set.
“Benhur was my classmate in college. The rest were new faces. The first day was
a bit awkward to be honest as we didn’t know each other but as time passed, we
grew closer and now we are like a tightly knit family. Everyone from the cast
and crew have been very patient and understanding and fun loving. We had a lot
of fun during the shoot.
The pandemic did test the patience of the filmmakers and the
actors, “After the pandemic started, we were not sure when we’ll resume the
shoot as most of us started working. It was a big challenge for Christ and
Benhur and I think they have handled it perfectly. This season ends on a
perfect note and gives justice to every character,” he adds
On
September 16, at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, the event will begin at 7 pm as the
cast and crew will be at the venue to meet and greet the audience. All the five
episodes will be screened with a break of two minutes after every episode. “For
now, there’s only one show due to unavailability of halls. We are in talks to
have more shows soon. For those outside the country, it seems they won’t be
able to watch this season, at least for now,” says Silva, still giving hope
that the show will continue with more screenings.
