by Richie Lasrado, Resident Editor, Daijiworld.com, Mangalore - Pics Praveen Tauro Kulshekar
Mangalore, Jan 22 (Sunday 10-15 pm): The names could sound to be in a lighter vein.
The show had the tag 'Piega Piega' - loosely translated 'Drink, Man, Drink' in Konkani - something that would give an image of a drunken revelry. On the other hand, the motto of the organizers was noble and worth emulating.
Amabel and Babita
The group 'V-One' that presented the Konkani musical show in the Don Bosco Hall on Sunday, January 22 evening deserves to be commended for its humanitarian initiative.
An appeal song for orphans
Babita singing with emotions
'V-One' comprises five young talents - each of them a master in his field. Joel Pereira of Bijai who needs no introduction as a music director, Roshan D'Souza of Angelore (lead guitar and keyboards), Ashit Pinto of Angelore (bass guitar), Melvyn Fernandes of Vamanjoor (drums) and Anil D'Souza Valencia.
Mick Max, Amabel and Mohamed Iqbal
The maiden show by the group was not a money-making proposition. It was only sort of an initiation for the group - to tell the community what their worthy aims are. A large chunk of proceeds from all their shows in future will go towards the cause of the cancer-hit and orphaned children.
Prakash Mahadevan and Anil D'Sa (Shankerpura)
Johnson Crasta
Honour for family head Joachim Pereira
The very fact that the show was named 'Piega Piega' after one of the hit songs of the evening made the tenor and content of the concert clear - it was a feast of old Konkani numbers. Many of them were great hits in the 1950s and 1960s. The composers of a few of them have remained anonymous or the ownership of the copyright has been lost track of.
Melvin Peris and the song on what it is like being a father of twelve children
There is a wee bit of confusion regarding the composers of some old hits. For example, 'Mhaka bhurgim bara zonnam' was a great hit some thirty-plus years ago. But no one knows for sure who the song-writer was. Similarly, 'Omal bond kelam' (attributed to the late Willie Bolar), 'Altodicho lok ailolo kazarak' (believed to be a Jerome D'Souza creation, since he is the one who popularized it) and a few others are still popular with the older generation, but the composers have been long forgotten.
The purpose of the show, besides the one already mentioned, was in a way also to rejuvenate the old numbers and keep them fresh and green in the hearts of music-lovers. 'Sanjecho vell zalo', written by playwright Saturnine Prabhu for the play 'Bhasavnnem', the title-song "Piega piega' and 'Shikari' by Henry Moraes of Valencia (erstwhile of Bijai) and a few others will certainly be remembered by music connoisseurs for a long time.
Amabel, Babita and Prakash
New compositions by Ashit and Roshan like 'Yore Yore' and 'Kitem-gi Aaz' are likely to be instant hits. Under Joel's baton, singers Mohamed Iqbal, Prakash Mahadevan, Anil D'Sa (Pangla-Shankerpura), Amabel Moras (winner of 'Ranni Kogull' title in Konkani TV's 'Soad' talent-hunt) and Babita D'Costa of Bajpe indeed did a creditable job.
Humorous interludes were provided by Jerry Rasquinha of Angelore and his team. Mick Max was the main compere, while some of the songs were introduced by the singers themselves, which was an innovative idea.
Crowd joining the final dance
The show began around 6-10 pm and ended in time by 8-40 pm.
Literally at the end of the day, a triumphant-looking 'V-One' team appeared to have had kind of a contented 'We won the music-lovers' hearts' feeling.
ALBUM CLICK HERE
From Daijiworld archives:
- Click here to read more about Joel Pereira, in our column Do-Re-Me-Fa