Born May 12 1963, Babit de Zuari hails from the tiny village of Zuari, Goa Velha. Watching tiatrs, whether staged in his village or elsewhere, was a passion since childhood. His uncle, late Santan de Souza, used to pen tiatrs and would also be part of the troupes staging tiatrs in the village.
When the village youth decided to stage a tiatr in Zuari for the annual feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in October, Babit’s uncle introduced him in the tiatr. He rendered a song that was composed by his twin uncles, Nazareth and Philip de Souza. “My twin uncles would jointly compose and provide new compositions to the village folk,” he informs.
Later, on another occasion, when Goa Velha Sports Club decided to hold a singing competition in the village, Babit participated and won the second prize; the first place was won by Veena Pegado. When Teofileo Marques staged his tiatr, ‘Gambero’, in his village for the annual feast of Jesus of Nazareth, he was part of the troupe and got the opportunity to render a song.
Besides participating in various cultural activities in and around his village, Babit also participated in the Kala Academy’s annual tiatr competition and rendered several songs. He claims to have rendered songs in at least six tiatrs presented at the competition.
Having garnered enough confidence, Babit de Zuari penned his first tiatr, ‘Visvasghat’, and staged it for the annual feast of Queen of Angels at Zuari. “During that period,” he informs, “village girls would not come on stage to showcase their talents of singing and acting. It could be due to stage fright or lack of enouragement.”
“So, the only option left was to take artistes from other villages,” reveals Babit. Famed artiste Succorina from the tiatr ‘Succorine’ by Menino de Bandar and her sister, Marina,were selected to be part of his troupe in tiatr ‘Visvasghat’.
Initially, Babit would pen and stage only one tiatr for the annual feast in his village. But later, he started penning and staging two tiatrs annually, one in the month of April and the other in October.
Till date, Babit has penned and staged 14 tiatrs, the last being staged in UK recently. He was fortunate to have three shows of his latest tiatr, ‘Uzvadd Konnem Palloilo’, in the month of February; it was produced by Xavier Dias from Santa Cruz.
Babit’s forte is in penning tiatrs basically revolving on family issues. Among the writers, he rates late Rosario Rodrigues as the best tiatr script writer and Roseferns as the best director among the flock of directors.
“With the latest technology coming in and advancement in various spheres, family values are taking a backseat and slowly perishing,” he believes. “Respect for parents and elders has become a long cherished dream, so various facts and ground realities are portrayed and depicted in my dramas,” he adds.
Babit’s latest production focuses on alcoholism. “Tension due to petty issues in the family should not prompt people to resort to alcoholism. There are ways to tackle them and resolve amicably,” he says.
Babit served in Kuwait for almost 11 years, from 1995 to 2005. Though a number of tiatrs were staged in Kuwait, by Goan directors or directors residing there, such as Simon Gonsalves, Rosary Ferns and Rafael de Majorda, Babit did not get the chance of watching any there.
After more than a decade in Kuwait, he migrated to the UK for better prospects. In the UK, Babit came across a number of tiatrists, which prompted him to pen and stage his tiatr, by casting tiatrists like Felcy, Salu de Loutulim, Jasba, Joslan, Simon Gonsalves, Emsley, comedian Costy, Sandra, Reggie and Aliston.
Noting the success of his tiatr in the UK, Babit is planning to stage his second tiatr in 2020, besides staging his tiatr in Goa as well and staging it cities and villages, as per the availability of time and space. His brother, Agnelo, is also a composer of songs and singer and he introduced at least six of his songs in his latest tiatr.
When Shahu Almeida staged his musical show in Kuwait, he roped in Babit for his show, who is grateful to him for providing him with a platform on which he could showcase his talents. He is also grateful to the media, both, print and electronic, for bringing to light the hidden artistes of the Konkani stage, which in turn has helped promote talent and the Konkani language as well.
“If youngsters have talent,” says Babit, “their elders should encourage them as they get many opportunities today to travel worldwide and receive recognition and fame.But education should not be sacrificed on the altar of talentas it gives you a stronger base and makes your future bright.”
