Konkani music
in Goa is thriving thanks to the original songs that are produced by the state’s talented musicians. While
the strength of Konkani tiatr lies in the able hands of the talented composers
and lyricists, the Mandos of Goa are encouraged through the annual All Goa
State Level Mando Festival, organised by the Goa Cultural and Social Centre.
The festival insists on original ‘mande’ through their Original Category. This
ripple effect has resulted in three ‘mando’ groups releasing their own albums
over the last two years.
‘Oll’lechim Mogrim’,
a cultural troupe, released their debut album ‘Goenchem Mande/Dulpodam’ under
the able guidance of their leader, Preethi Coutinho. The CD features three
original ‘mande’, ‘Moga Tuje Vinnem’, ‘Pular Rautam Tuka’ and ‘Suskar Mhuj
Kallzacho’, with the respective original ‘Dulpodam’.
Mando Mogi Margao led
by Pervis Gomes has been participating in the annual state level Mando Festival
since 1997; they launched their first maiden DVD featuring traditional Goan
folk songs and dances like Mando, Dekhni, Fugdi and Dhalo.
Goenchim Noketram, a
Goan folklore and musical troupe founded by Marianela Gina, completed ten years
of representing Goan culture across the globe. They released an audio album
‘Goa – Tuzo Mog Mhaka’. The album features two Goan songs, the Mando and Dulpod
‘Dis(u) Kazaracho’ and Konkani duet ‘Ambadeachem Mogrem’ besides Konkani songs
inspired by the place they visited as a troupe. The beats of the Caribbean,
Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, New York and a Portuguese and Spanish song
influenced by the Lusofonia Festival in Macau are part of it. The music of the
album is composed by Mukesh Ghatwal and the mixing and mastering has been done
in Mumbai by Rupjit Das.
Last year was also
the first time that Konkani songs on Lord Ganesh were composed and released as
videos on social media. ‘He Ganaraya’, a Konkani music video, was produced by
Crazy Minds. The song was sung by Anay Kamat and Rajesh Madgaonkar, with lyrics
by writer Sanjay Borkar. The music was composed by duo Dilip Vaze and Sindhuraj
Kamat.
‘Mangal Murti Morya’ was the first Konkani devotional video song
written by John Aguiar and composed and sung by Mukesh Ghatwal. The music is
composed and arranged by Mukesh Ghatwal. The chorus is sung by Puja Naik
Mandrekar, John Aguiar, Kedar Naik and Palash Ghatwal. The video is directed
and edited by Uday Kamat of Doordarhsan Kendra, Panjim. The lyricist of the
video was John Aguiar.
