Fernando Monte da Silva
fernando@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Goa’s most lauded film production in recent times, Nachom-ia Kumpasar has taken things to a level that was hitherto unprecedented: the Oscars. As of Tuesday, the film has been shortlisted on to the roster of productions eligible for the 88th Academy Awards. A sum total of 300 films will vie for the coveted nominations spots, and only 4-5 will make it that far in each category, before an eventual winner is announced.
“As of right now, the rumours stop being rumours and turn to fact. We have been shortlisted and this is a huge step for us already. We had applied in two categories: Best Foreign Film and Best Background Score. Now, the films will be passed on for deliberation to a panel comprising members of the academy, and the waiting game begins. We can only hope for the best,” says Bardroy Barretto, the film’s Director.
It is an immense testament to the movie that it is now in the same leagues as titles like Mortdecai featuring the likes of Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Goldblum and Paul Bettany; or for that matter, semi-musicals like Pan, with Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Amanda Seyfried and Cara Delevingne.
Of course, on the flipside of that sentiment, this also highlights just how hard the competition is. For instance, Nachom-ia Kumpasar, whose spine is its score, faces competition from soundtrack oriented opposition such as the Anna Kendrick led Pitch Perfect 2, which apart from being the sequel to a movie that had a near global cult-like following, is in its own right the winner of five Teen Choice Awards, having been nominated for another four.
It is a huge moment for a film, which through its storyline uses 20 outstanding Konkani songs to create a narrative that conveys a nostalgic Goan tale. It has been set in a time that musicians may have gone unappreciated and (as ironic as it might sound) may have remained unsung. “For me, this was all just my manner of paying tribute to Goan music and the musicians behind it, because Goan musicians from the glory days of the ’60s and ’70s certainly did not get their due,” Bardroy says.
Perhaps the work he has put in is all coming full circle, as Nachom-ia Kumpasar in turn, now gets its due too.
