C Alvares, the name itself is enough to make any Konkani tiatr and song lovers to start humming a tune or talk about his role in path breaking Konkani films. A hero and a great personality on the stage, he was one of the directors who brought new ideas to tiatr. As his 24th death anniversary is approaching, on February 27, a road right next to his ancestral home in Saligao, will be named after him as C Alvares Marg in Golotem, Saligao. A much awaited event for the tiatr community, his contributions are not forgotten.
Thanks to the efforts of C Alvares and Brothers Memorial Trust, C Alvares is finally returning home. Born on August 1, 1920 to Caetano Alvares and Anunciacao de Souza in Saligao, Celestino Alvares was the eldest son with four brothers and one sister. Being the eldest, he headed to Bombay at the age of nine to attend night school and training himself in a trade.
With his beautiful voice, he started singing in his father’s tiatr at the age of 7 and then went on to act in tiatrs by the topmost directors of that time as most of them were based in Bombay. In a career spanning over five decades, C Alvares wrote and produced 105 tiatrs, apart from acting and singing in each of them. C Alvares was also noted as a composer of songs, namely solos, duets, trios and quartets. C Alvares has also performed in lead roles in the first Konkani films ‘Amchem Noxib’, ‘Nirmonn’, ‘Mhoji Ghorkarn’ and ‘Bhuierantlo Munis’. For acting in film ‘Nirmonn’, he received the ‘Man of the Year’ award at the hands of late Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi in 1966.
C Alvares was married to Cataleen from Revora and they are parents to three sons, late Clarence, Clive and Cliffy and daughter, Capucina. Keeping his memory alive, C Alvares and Brothers Memorial Trust was formed by his brother, late Assuncao’s sons, Alex and Fr Dominic Alvares and their cousins, all belonging to the Alvares family. “Since he passed away in 1999, we thought at least for his birth centenary, we should celebrate in a big way. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit and we could not bring tiatr lovers together for a grand occasion. The process of naming the road after him continued and the president of C Alvares and Brothers Memorial Trust, Alex Alvares followed up constantly on the process. Luckily, the road will be named for his death anniversary this year,” says Fr Dominic Alvares, a Pilar priest who is currently based in Honda. Through the trust, they have organised musicals and concerts as a tribute to C Alvares in the past. In August 2020, the Postal Services released a Special Cover and Special Cancellation in Goa dedicated to C Alvares. “My sister, Rosy Alvares is the only one from the family who has immensely contributed to the tiatr stage after him,” adds Fr Dominic.
“C Alvares was one of the greatest tiatrist who dominated the tiatr scene till his death. He was a brilliant director, composer and one of the best actors that the Konkani stage has seen. He created a niche for himself as the King of Duets. He always acted as a hero in many tiatrs and films and he was always a hero in his life. One very important of aspect of tiatr was that he introduced new faces on the tiatr stage. He was the one who brought many girls on the tiatr stage. Earlier, boys would enact the roles of girls as their parents would not allow their daughters to act in tiatr. But C Alvares would convince the parents and add beauty to the tiatr stage which was very evident,” says Tomazinho Cardozo, a noted tiatr director and former president of Tiatr Academy of Goa.
He further adds, “Unfortunately, Tiatr Academy of Goa, Kala Academy and Directorate of Art and Culture, could not do anything grand for his Birth Centenary in August 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He was the one who tried his level best for tiatr. He one of the stalwarts for whom something should have been done.”
Director and actor, Roseferns has grown up watching C Alvares visiting his village as well as his home when he used to travel to Goa with his tiatr. As Bab Peter and Ophelia would often stay in his house, C Alvares used to spend time with them. “C Alvares was a legend and his tiatrs and songs were full or good morals and humour. His duets were excellent and he deserved the title of King of Duets. I remember watching his tiatrs, ‘Kednam Udetolo To Dis’ and ‘Orad Goenkar’ which were staged in the late 1960s on Benaulim beach. In those days, the tiartists were mostly based in Bombay and they would plan their holidays in the month of April-May when the all would travel to Goa and schedule their tiatrs here. In the summer months, they mostly performed on the beach. It must have been very challenging to stage a tiatr then with transportation being a huge problem. Being such an important personality on the stage, yet in person he was very humble and nice person,” says Roseferns, who is the first tiatr director to complete 100 tiatrs and has been felicitated on many occasions for this feat.
Noted Konkani singer Edwin D’Costa’s songs are popular for reaching a wide audience within hours over YouTube, becoming instant hits. He has set the record for releasing Konkani albums. One of the most influential people in his life was C Alvares.
“A man with a golden heart, C Alvares showed female actors the way to come to the Konkani tiatr stage. He gave most of the new talent, the first opportunity to sing and act on stage including me. I had the first opportunity to sing in his tiatr ‘Mosteponn’ at Gomant Vidya Niketan, Margao. His duets always inspired me with good compositions and they were always educative,” says Edwin D’Costa, who sang the song ‘Goenchi Udorgot’ for the first tiatr, ‘Mosteponn’.