Mathew Araujo is the man who refused a tempting offer from a mighty playwright like the late Rosario Rodrigues in the year 1991 not because he did not want to act in his troupe but more because he wanted to honour his word given earlier to another playwright. Incidentally, Mathew had committed himself to playwright Jack Ferry in his show ‘Devak Sangat’ and hence did not want to ditch him for another much lucrative offer. And yet today he ranks among the top leading and much sought after male actors of the Konkani stage. Stylish and with a slim and trim athlete body frame, this wheat complexioned leading actor can enact any dashing roles with equal ease and panache, though he is well suited for a villain, or an Police Officer.
He is one of the few actors who has received the prestigious Gulab award consecutively for two years for his best acting ( For ‘Bovall’ in 2002 and for ‘Devak Zai Zalear’ in 2003). But he has neither pride nor any kind of ego and is a down to earth simple man with humility being his second nature. Soft spoken and a man of few words Mathew Araujo endears to just about anybody who comes in close contact with him, and that’s because he always maintains a low profile on and off the stage. A successful businessman by profession who runs a fleet of tourist cabs, he took to acting just like the way fish takes to water and today is a most recognized face in town.Mathew Araujo hails from the village of Cabesa, Santa Cruz in the North and had his schooling in St. Cruz High School where he completed his studies till S.S.C. As a matter of fact there is no one in the family who had any professional engagement with the Konkani stage and yet Mathew somehow had the urge to prove himself on the Konkani stage. He was offered a small role by fellow villager Candido Araujo in 1982 in one of his tiatr staged on the feast day. The same trend continued in 1983 and 1984 too. But, in the year 1985 Candido Araujo having convinced of Mathew’s acting talents, offered him a much bigger role in his tiatr “ Mhoje Dolle Tuzo Uzvadd”. That was perhaps the beginning of much bigger things to come, and from then on there was no looking back for this enthusiastic young man who has till date bagged only the leading roles in most of the dramas he has acted.
Mathew has also had a short stint with the All Goa One Act plays which gave him a wider and much bigger exposure across Goa, but his real break in a professional troupe came in Pascoal Rodrigues’ tiatr ‘Mog asum di’ followed by another professional playwright Jack Ferry. So far there is not a single playwright director of the Konkani stage who has not requisitioned the acting services of Mathew Araujo. From John D’Silva, Rose Ferns, Prince Jacob, Pascoal Rodrigues, Menino de Bandar, Ben Evangelistgo, Peter D’Costa, Anthony San, Jose Rod, Samuel Carvalho, to Agostinho Temudo have all had Mathew on their shopping list. He is a complete actor and gets fully involved in the role that he is called upon to enact. He admits that he still follows the age old practice of rehearsing his lines first before the mirror at home to fine tune his acting. On several occasions he has stepped into the shoes of other actors in emergencies and done justice to the role at very short notice.
Though a self taught actor, Mathew acknowledges the guidance he has received on acting and dialogue delivery and modulation from other seniors. He is all praise for playwright John D’Silva, who he says has polished his skill during his stint in John D’Silva’s dramatic troupe for nearly 4 years. When asked who is his favourite Konkani stage artiste Mathew replied after a little thought “ The late Seby Coutinho is my favourite, though I got to see him act only on few occasions.”
In recent times Mathew is seen acting in many of the short video films that are produced in Goa. One VCD film that instantly comes to mind is Samuel Carvalho’s ‘Ghat Apleak Sontos Peleak’ where he acts as the romantic Police Officer. He has even acted in the role of Jesus in one of a religious taitr presented by the St. Cruz parish. To a pointed question whether he is selective or choosy about the roles offered to him he answered without any hesitation “I make no demands for any particular role, being an actor I am open to any role offered by the playwright. Similarly, I have no reservations whatsoever, whether the role is big or small. I give my 100% in any role that is offered to me. For e.g., I was offered a major role in the tiatr ‘Daddy’ by Samuel Carvalho, in his latest tiatr ‘Mhaka Sangat’ the same playwright offered me a comparatively smaller role of an Police Officer, this did not deter me in giving my best to the role and get appreciation from the audience.”
A widely traveled actor overseas in the Gulf with several playwrights, he is shortly scheduled to make a long overseas tour of the Gulf States of Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Muscat with Agostinho Temudo in January next year. In 2007 when he visited Kuwait he was felicitated by the organisers for his excellent acting skills. When asked to name his favourite Director/playwright among the present ones, he instantly mentioned the name of Rose Ferns, whom he said he holds in high esteem for his professionalism.
Father of two school going children Mathew Araujo is a family man when not busy with his shows and likes to spend quality time with them at home. 'They are my first critics at home with respect to my acting and dress code and are a great encouragement and support everything thatI do' Mathew told GO during the conversation. In all simplicity he admitted " I love good food, Chicken is my favourite, and when I have spare time at my disposal, I do chip in to help my wife in the kitchen" . Besides tiatr, he also has a great love for football and was a footballer with the famed ST. Cruz football club in his younger days.
Sounding a caution to the youngsters and newcomers to the stage he has this advice " Respect the senior artistes, be humble in whatever you do and achieve greatness through your dedicated work. Never try to show off with just a few performances. Simplicity and humility wins admiration and gets success".
