Mangalore: Quepem's Stars from Goa Sparkle at Kalaangann

by Richie Lasrado

with pics by Praveen Tauro Kulshekar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (mb)

Mangalore, Jan 6 (11-15 pm): It was certainly a refreshing change for the Konkani music and art aficionados of the city, when 'Kepemchim Kirnnam', a musical and performing group from Quepem taluka of south Goa, presented a scintillating show at Kalaangann, Shaktinagar in the city on Sunday, January 6 evening.

If Panjim or Panaji or Ponnje is established as the administrative headquarters of Goa, and Margao or Madgaon as the commercial hub, perhaps Quepem or Kepem has earned its own place in the art and music world. No doubt South Goa has made a significant contribution to Konkani art and literature, what with the Kankonkar academic-singer-composer Purnachand Chari himself heading the Konkani Bhasha Mandal - Goa as its president.

'Kepemchim Kirnnam', headed by its director Elvis Goes - pronounced 'Goish' - is not new to Mangalore. This group had taken part in the historic 'Manddo Fest' in 2003 in Mangalore and had won the hearts of Konkani art-lovers of the city.

The stage for their performance on Sunday was provided by the premier Konkani organization, Mandd Sobhann, in the form of their 73rd edition of 'Moinealli Manchi' (Monthly Theatre) in the Noreen and Ronald Mendonca amphitheatre in the Kalaangann complex, the world's only Konkani heritage centre of its kind.

In spite of two major events like Alvas Virasat finale and the Eucharitic Procession around town taking place on the same day, the amphitheatre had a good turnout, with the people just eager to enjoy the rare treat from across the state boundary. It was all a grand feast of folklore, dance, music and vocals at Kalaangann.

Elvis, joined by brother Glorio and his wife Linnet, along with a talented band of musicians, gave a non-stop musical feast. Some songs of Chris Perry, M Alphonso and  Juju brought back nostalgic memories. The audience did not disappoint in that they appreciated every single song and dance. The artistes from Kepem appeared to be versatile, each one of them doubling as singer or dancer by turns.

Elvis and group got the audience right into the musical mood with an inspirational invocation 'ie somina kallzant mhojea, otmeant rau tum mhojea'.  Next was 'Goa' written by Jess Fernandes and set to music by Elvis. 'Juliana', another of Elvis' own composition too was melodious.

Johnson Fernandes made the listeners rock and roll with Chris Perry's old hit 'Cantaram Cortam', originally sung by Lorna. Then it was the turn of folklore, a 'deknni' dance, beginning with a mellow 'Choltam Choltam'. The regular switching of scales, blending of voices and chorus - everything about it was captivating.

'Mai', a song dedicated to mother, composed by Juju, was sung by Elvis in a soul-stirring way, with timely voice modulation at regular frequency.

The Marcha de Fontainhas serenade, handed down by the Portuguese tradition, with eye-catching costumes doing full justice to the song and enthusiasm of the performers, also got a thunderous applause.

Shweta Fernandes, who impressed in the dances too, sang 'Happy New Year', another Chris Perry hit, originally sung by Usha Mangeshkar, with Ambar Kumar and chorus in an album released in the early 1970's. Her rendition was indeed true to the original. Similarly, another song from the same album - Sundor Tum Goa, a touching lyrical tribute to Amchem Goem by Rico Rod, set to music by M Alphonso and originally sung by Kishore Kumar's son Amit Kumar, was rendered by Glorio Goes.

Then it was the turn of the masterpiece from Kepemchim Kirnnam - the Manddo number 'Kalliz Pinzta' that has managed to conquer the world. It had been first presented by the same group at the 8th National Youth Festival held at Thiruvananthapuram in  January 1993, when it stood first at the national level. Since then, it has been presented under the auspices of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), ministry of external affairs, New Delhi in places as distant as Republic of Seychelles and Cambodia, besides in Kuwait. Here again, the period costumes - tailcoats for male performers and matching attires for the women - and graceful movements of the dancers added special charm to the harmoniously blending voices.

A song dedicated to the Magii - the Three Wise Men from the East - was appropriate as the day, January 6, was the feast of Epiphany. It was Elvis' own creation and it turned out to be a superb blend of semi-classical, ballad and western styles. 'Burgeaponnalo ugddas' too evoked sentiments. Then followed a Portuguese-style dance and a song on AIDS.

An impressive Kharvi dance - a song of the trade for the fishing community - came as a fitting finale to a fine musical feast. The costumes, props and the performance - all complemented each other so well.

Earlier, Arun Ajekar gave an introduction. Mandd Sobhann 'pirjent' Eric Ozario gave a brief on the forthcoming 'Konkani Nirantari' - a Konkani singathon of 40 hours - aimed at setting a Guinness record on January  26-27 at Kalaangann, in which 'Kepechim Kirnnam' too will take part.

The show was all a pleasant blend of sentimental songs, dance formats like dekhnni, manddo, kharvi, Portuguese serenade from Fontainhas and such other foot-tapping dance numbers.

The event is sure to remain talked about for quite some time, and by publicity of word of mouth, the group is definitely going to get a tremendous response at their next presentation in town.

Earlier, Mandd Sobhann president Louis J Pinto welcomed Elvis Goes with a floral greeting. During the interval, a piggy-bank collection from Salome Alvares, a young well-wisher of the organization, who had collected it entirely from her pocket money and gifts, was officially presented by her to pirjent Ozario and treasurer Kingsley Nazareth.

In the end, Elvis Goes, on behalf of his troupe, thanked the organizers and those who helped the event happen in Mangalore and said they would look forward to performing in the city many number of times in the future.

While Walter Menezes impressed with his flowing style of compering, the band consisting of John on violin, Nacimento on bass guitar, Augusto on gumott, Diego Rebello on percussion, Danny on keyboards and Walter Fernandes on lead guitar did a fantastic job with their foot-tapping music.