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.