ON 16th of this month at Panjim ESG theatre I saw the new
Konkani Film “Padrik Navn Na?” . Though it was not a full house audience yet
with the exception of few empty Chairs in the front segment, the rest of the
Chairs were filled up. At an outset, the joint script writer and the director and
also the main force behind producing this Cinema, Mr. Valerian Vaz from Agacaim
Goa, along with the main artiste of this Film Pradeep Naik who played an
sterling role of a Priest first and later on as an old and broken hearted man,
the latter addressing the audience gave a brief history and background of this
Cinema and requested the audience to speak good of this Cinema if they found it
worthy of speaking good
The script and
direction is done jointly by Valerian Vaz and Viraj Salkar while the Line Producer
is Gajanan Naik and co-producer is Andre Teixera.
The two priests shown
in this film namely Pradip Naik and Nitin Kavlekar surprisingly are both Hindus
in their real life and yet they played their roles well. However, they both failed to show to the
audience their perfect “Padripon” by not walking like genuine traditional “Padri”. If this they had done well they would be
still shining more. I am sure they both
missed to see the role of a Padri the renown and powerful artiste the late J.P.
Souzalin was playing then. I am sure
even they have not seen Anthony D’Sa doing the role of a Padri so beautifully
and their beauty of this role focused on the way they walk. If nothing could they do then they should have
approached Cyriaco Dias who is very much living now, he would have easily
trained them. The director of this Film
carry the blame for not directing his artistes properly and even when they make
the Sign of the Cross there is no genuineness in them and even the blessing
they give is not full fledged genuine, it did not look like natural.
How many of us remember the controversy erupted when Shalini the main
Actress of Nirmon Film committed the goof while doing the Sing of the
Cross? Then somebody asked “what is the
knowledge of that director on Christianity?"
The story of the film
is very good but I decline to elaborate it because I want this Film to be
watched by more and more people so that the producer and others who have
invested so much in this Film will not be able to recover their
investment. So it is my request that
all the Konkani lovers should make a point to see it when it is screened again.
It is very pathetic to see how the innocent
“Padri” made to suffer innocently by the latest crop of Bastardised MLA’s who
to fulfill their ambition of getting
elected are ready to do anything. The role here of the MLA Braganza played by
Vinod Vernekar was wonderful, in this role he depicts himself exactly like the
MLA’s from Bihar and other jungle like parts of India depicts. To a certain extent in Goa also we see some
glimpses of such nasty acts of our MLA’s.
All said and done, the Film is worth seeing
and I suggest everyone who has missed this time then they must go next time.
A.Veronica Fernandes.
