By: Daniel F. D'Souza.
Late Thursday evening my friend comedian Jesus Antao sent me an sms informing me about the sad passing away of versatile singer and composer H. Britton. I could not believe that H. Britton was no more. H. Britton who hails from the small hamlet ‘Brittona’ in Bardez, was baptized as Hermegildo Camilo and comes from a tiatr loving family. He was the recipient of the State Cultural Award for acting in tiatrs. Known for his classy female roles and attires he was synonymous singing solos dressed as a female. Blessed with good looks, fair skin, good height, slim and trim figure, he looked stunning in a colourful sari, with all matching accessories from the earrings to the rings, bangles, sun glasses, designer high heel shoes, matching lipstick, colourful umbrellas, and of’course the blonde wigs and not to forget his seducing smile.
With the exception of late Christopher Leitao who also dressed as a female, no other male artist in a female role could ever hold a candle to H. Britton on the Konkani stage till now. His style, finesse, delicacy, and graceful disposition of a lady were something to admire. Such was his dexterity in a female attire that it would surely make heads turn. Over the years he had mastered the art of wearing a sari to such perfection that would even put a lady to shame. When dressed in a sari or in hot pants as the particular lyrics demanded, no one would ever have second thoughts that he is a male. It was not only the explicit dress sense he had to portray female characters, but, he was equally blessed with a sensational female voice modulation.
Tiatr lovers will never forget the all time hit duet ‘Tarzan’ he sang together with the late M. Boyer, wherein he played the female role and late M. Boyer as ‘Tarzan’. Vivid images of this duet are fleeting before my eyes as I write this piece. H. Britton’s forte was to sing solos or comedy duos, or duets. He was more into singing comic solos and a solo in a female attire some of which were inter-laced with a ‘pun’. He would also sing decent solos when the situation warranted. Besides, H. Britton was often seen singing a satirical solo attired in the traditional Hindu outfit ‘dhoti’.
A cheerful person on and off the stage, he always sported a smile on his smooth shaven face. H. Britton was a gifted composer. Whether the songs were comic, or decent in nature, the composition was something to talk about which would obviously have every single line meaningful and well synchronized and to the point. He will be remembered for his all time hit song ‘ Bandra Festak’ which is so narrative in style as well as his ‘Pandu Lampianv’ in a typical Hindu style. But, for the younger generation and those who are romantically inclined ‘Marialina’ and the Mando ‘Kazarachem Utor’ will have a special place. He has recorded his songs on the HMV records in the pre-cassette era and later produced cassettes and CDs of his hot selling hits.
As a much sought after artist H. Briton has acted for almost all of the top directors of the Konkani stage viz., M. Boyer, Prem Kumar, C. Alvares, Jacinto Vaz, Remmie Colaco. He has also staged his own tiatrs, his first being ‘Ekvottachem Foll’ in 1970, followed by ‘Customs Officer’, Jivit Kuwaitchem, Bhunead Naslolem Ghor, Bebddo Put etc. With a conservative estimate, till date he must have composed and sung around 1000 odd songs on stage and that’s a staggering figure by all counts.
He had a brief stint in the Gulf, when he was employed in the Gulf State of Kuwait. The sad and untimely passing away of H. Britton is a shock and loss to the entire tiatrist fraternity, for it will be difficult to find someone like him in the near future to grace the Konkani stage specially in a female attire, with the same grace, elegance and flamboyance.
n.b: the above aricle was published in Goan Observer dtd 26th Oct 09.
