MONDAY, JULY 08, 2024
Dolcy D’Cruz
How does one define a village? A village is a group of houses and associated buildings, larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town, situated in a rural area. But pose the same question to a Goan and they will get nostaligc as they define what their village means to them. A village is considered a home bustling with great relations with family and friends where everybody knows everybody. Surrounded by nature and with love for following culture and traditions, one can recollect only fond memoires of their ancestral homes. However, under different circumstances, people have to move away from their villages.
Bringing this love and affection for Goan villages and how they were thriving, Kala Chetana Volvoi is taking its audience on an emotional rollercoaster with ‘Ganv Zala Zantto’, a Konkani drama directed by Amogh Budkule and written by Suchita Narvekar. The cast includes seven artistes Rajdeep Naik, Suchita Narvekar, Mohandas Naik, Rajesh Lohia, Ramanand Naik, Nigam Naik and Prashanti Chari, who bring about a riot on stage as they show how the village is an important hub in which every aspect of nature is respected, most importantly water.
After 68 successful shows right from their first show at Kaysuva in March, the drama is still running houseful at different venues and is appreciated by all communities and people from different age groups. The story revolves around Jalesh (Rajdeep Naik) and his city-bred wife, Jalapurna (Suchita Narvekar). While Jalesh loves his ancestral home and the well in the house, his wife prefers building a new modern home for their new-born son. The well is buried and a modular kitchen takes its place. Their son, Jaldeep is brought up with the laughter and fun of his neighbours and friends, Minguel (Rajesh Lohiya), Mhadavi (Prashanti Chari), Dada (Ramanand Naik) and Reddi (Mohandas Naik). However, Jalapurna still feels that were son will lack the skills for a good career if he is educated in the village and wants him to be brought up in the city. Through the story, Jalesh explains how the Mhadei flows through most villages of Goa and why the water is important to replenish the villages. Though the drama is humorous and makes the audience laugh out loud, it is also a wakeup call to understand that one has to be aware of the need to save Mhadei River before it’s too late.
Rajdeep Naik has been the face of many Konkani movies and is also famed for his short videos on social media, ‘Hello Vasanti,’ which focusses on various social and political issues. A founding member of Kala Chetana Volvoi, he is quite proud of presenting over 70 dramas under the banner with over 10,000 shows in Goa and Maharashtra.
“Ganv Zala Zantto’is our 75th production of Kala Chetana Volvoi and we have received such a tremendous response from the audience especially the Catholic crowd. We will be soon performing our fourth show at Margao and all the shows have been houseful with nearly 80 percent of the crowd being Catholics. Usually for Konkani drama, we don’t get this audience but the theme of the drama resonates with the people. Before we could even perform our first show, a priest from Galgibaga, Canacona had already booked us for our second show,” says Rajdeep.
The script is written by Suchita Narvekar, a noted name in the world of Konkani and Marathi theatre in Goa. She has been a huge part of Kala Chetana Volvoi, and a theatre association that completed 27 years. She has written eleven dramas including ‘Kani Navya Yugachi’ and now ‘Ganv Zalo Zantto’. “This is the first time I am receiving so much of appreciation not just as an actor but also as a writer. Usually, it is the people on stage who take the role ahead but people stay back after the show and come to tell me that they loved my writing,” says Suchita.
The music is by Akshay Prakash Naik and Sindhuraj Kamat, set design is by Hemant Kansar, background music is by Tanaji Gaude, Akshay Naik, Tanaya Sawant and Varad Tari sung the songs, lights are by Manohar Kolekar, Chandan Borkar is the music operator and the stage setup is by Shivilal Yadav.
What made Suchita write about the village life is also quite thought provoking. “I always wanted to write about the relationship between the village and water. Many years back when I used to travel to Savoi Verem, Rajdeep’s village, I used to meet a lot of people, all friends and neighbours and over the years, I found that the village was getting empty. It struck me when Rajdeep’s father, my father-in-law showed concern when he said that if he falls when he is alone in the house, there won’t be even four people in the village to him to lift him up. This thought was gnawing at my mind for many years and nearly two years back I got to seriously start writing about it. Villages were set up wherever fresh water was found and it is rightly said that the next war will be fought over water. We have a saying in Konkani, ‘hasta hasta chimto kaddop’, the same way this drama shows how important water is for next generation if it is not saved today. Cities will run dry and we have to unite to save our rivers,” says Suchita.
Rajdeep adds, “There was a lot of research that went into writing this tight script. We met environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar and interacted with many people who worked on different works based on the Mhadei as well as watched many YouTube videos for reference. We had thorough rehearsals for over two months before the first performance and our crew consists of seven actors and three back stage members. It is a tight knit group of artistes who have been together for nearly two decades.”
This is not the first time that Kala Chetana Volvoi has brought a serious issue to the fore. Their previous play, ‘Kani Navya Yugachi’ focused on the New Education Policy and how it will impact the education of children in the future. “Through the play, we wanted to inform people about what will happen if the water is diverted to the neighbouring states. If people can relate to the play with the story, they also understand the need to speak out about the river. I realised that many housewives come backstage to show their appreciation and it will be the same women who can join agitations in the future. A drama has more reach to the audience compared to speeches and Goans should be alert about these issues,” says Rajdeep.
‘Ganv Zala Zantto’ will be next performed at Pai Tiatrist Hall, Margao on July 6 at 3.30 pm, at Rajiv Kala Mandir, Ponda on July 8 at 8 pm and at Dando AC Hall, Candolim on July 13 at 7.30 pm. In the month of September, the drama troupe will be travelling to the United Kingdom where they will be performing shows from September 20 to 24. “This will be the first time that a Konkani natak will be performed in the UK and the whole team is very excited about it. I have performed in the UK but for most of the team, it will be their first trip to the country. It is only if the audience in Goa loves the drama that they will recommend it to their loved ones abroad. That is the reason we are invited to perform there. So far, we have five shows in Reading, Wembley, Southall and Swindon,” says Rajdeep with optimism.
