Pradeep Naik
One of the best Konkani
Stage artistes one can find now is none other than Pradeep Naik from Carambolim
Goa. His character roles in different directors’ Tiatros create very impressive
image of his Tiatro art though because of his busy work schedule at Art and
Culture Dept., Government of Goa at Panaji where he is employed, he acts only in limited Tiatros
especially after studying the suitability of the roles he is offered by the
directors. The recent magnificent role he played of a father in the Tiatro
“Pai” of Comedian Agostinho is one of the most memorable roles he played in his
career so far, as at least I have noticed. Precisely because of this
extraordinary feat he was awarded the best actor award.
Pradeep Naik seen as Portuguese Official in Goa
According to Pradeep
Naik, it was by accident that he entered the Konkani Tiatro Stage starting from
the very early age when he was schooling at Morjim but now he enjoys every bit
of it. Having in the family his
grandfather as expert in the drama art being a well-known director, he taught the young Pradeep the art of acting in the
dramas. Later on as a young boy he
shifted his residence to Carambolim where actually he was groomed in the art of
Tiatro though earlier he was already
established himself as one of the best Marathi Drama artistes. It is here in Marathi Dramas that he polished his drama art and later on
applied this talent to Konkani Tiatros.
It is because of their earlier background in acting in Marathi dramas
that many of our Hindu artistes maintain their perfection on Tiatro Stage,
Pradeep Naik being a Hindu is one such perfectionist.
Pradeep Naik seen as Shenoy Goembab
At the age of 18
according to Pradeep, he acted first time in Tiatro at Carambolim and later on
got a chance to show his talent in the competitive Tiatro Festivals at Kala
Academy, Panjim where in the Tiatro “Zoitachi Ek Bukh” he won the best actor
award. As a matter of pride, he won 4 times best actor award in the competitions
at Kala Academy, Panjim. Then onwards, there was no stopping for Pradeep as
innumerable directors started offering him different roles in their Tiatros.
Some of the directors who inducted Pradeep in their Tiatros were Comedian
Domnic, Mariano Fernandes, Fr. Neville, Francis de Tuem and Comedian Agostinho.
Pradeep Naik in one of the Tiatros
During the yesteryears,
Tiatrists like Tony Sax, Anthony D’Sa, C. Alvares, Prem Kumar and Conception
were great stalwarts of Konkani Stage who were known to play character roles
with topmost precision. And currently I
can rightly include Pradeep Naik in that bracket since he belongs to that great
class of yesteryears greats. Pradeep
Naik’s delivery is perfect with very good clarity, dress code is very
appropriate, body language very well and positioning himself on the stage is
superb. In the current crop of Tiatrists I don’t see any artiste like Pradeep
Naik who can rise to any height in performing great character roles.
Pradeep Naik receiving National Kala Bushan Award 2015
Academically being a
University graduate, besides winning innumerable awards and prizes by acting in
Konkani and Marathi dramas, Pradeep Naik is also known to be a good journalist
and an established Anchor. A young man having
lot of humility, he is a very humble and decent human being minus any
pride. Such humane qualities are rarely
seen in many of our current Tiatrists. His charisma is his charismatic natural
smile ever existing on his face and that attracts people towards him. One of the major reasons according to Pradeep to reach to the top ladder
of Tiatro acting is the strong support he receives from his wife who is very
encouraging and also from his young daughter.
As a Tiatrist he
travelled many parts of the world including the Gulf and UK and as matter of
interest he received warm welcome from Goans there either from the Stage or
beyond. He found this attitude of Goans
especially of Tiatro fans unique and for which he feels very much indebted to
Tiatro fans. He also praised his Tiatro colleagues for welcoming him in their
midst with open arms without doing any discrimination. He feels he is totally integrated in Tiatro
fraternity by becoming a part of it.
