TIATRIST ANTHONY MENDES BIRTHDAY.
Today 28th December is the birthday of the great Konkani stage artiste and
comedian the late Anthony Mendes. Over 40 years have passed since he died.
He was considered the best and the greatest comedian of Konkani stage.
Those who have seen him acting on the stage will surely agree with me for
saying so. To my knowledge there is nobody presently and in the past whom I
can compare him with Mendes in comedy roles. Many of the Konkani Tiatro
lovers must have seen Mendes only in the Konkani Film Amchem Noxib where
he performed extremely well and from there it was said Hindi Film Industry
would take him over but due to his sudden death chintnam zalint sopnam.
Those who had the privilege to see him performing live on the Stage were
very fortunate to enjoy his comedy. More than word his actions were enough
to create peals of laughter in the Hall. I had great previllege to witness
his Tiatro Joao Paddekar in Goa where he played best comedy. That was the
only Tiatro he staged in Goa during those days about 45 years back He was
highly admired by the crowd and his presence during those days was enough to
attract a big crowd. He would make the crowd laugh with just making big
eyes and shaking his artificial moustache, he would make the crowd laugh by
just bending his body like an acrobat and he would make the crowd laugh and
laugh by just speaking few words in Latin. In Tiatro circle he was highly
respected by the Tiatro fraternity mainly because of his sheer love for
Tiatro and his dedication to perform well. He was a very simple man on and
off the stage. Though he acted for fees yet he never made money as God and
was not addicted to money consciousness. For him more than money was his
love and craze for acting. Because of his simplicity people loved him very
much and for this reason people still remember him not only for his comedy
roles but also for his humane character. Immediately after his death, Alfred
Rose composed and rendered a very beautiful song on his life and while
singing this song Alfred Rose even cried and made the crowd too cry. His
sudden death at an early age when all his children were young and school
going was a great loss for his family and a heavy blow for Konkani Stage.
In his death Konkani stage lost the greatest comedian tiatrist of which type
I am sure we will not get again soon because such people comes on this
planet once in centuries.
He has three sons and two daughters, all are married and they are in Kuwait,
all are living a respectable life. Anthony Mendes was very proud of his
children. His all three sons Felix Xavier Derrick in the footsteps of
their beloved father dazzled the Konkani Stage for a long period starting
from the time of the death of their father. When they first time came to Goa
soon after their fathers death to stage their drama they were very young
and their first entry on the stage wearing black Pants and whitish shirts
singing a trio about their father created a magnetic effect on the audience
and since then they remained darlings of the crowd. Xavier and Derrick
played comedy roles while Felix decent. Till mid seventies they decorated
Konkani Stage in Goa and Bombay and other parts of Konkani areas in India
but after that for about 15 years they continuously acted on Kuwait Konkani
Stage even staging their own Tiatros and helping others too to stage theirs.
For the cause of Konkani they gave their total support by acting free of
charge for raising funds for Konkani Daily Novem Goem though some of the
tin pot artistes refused. About 5 years back, after a gap of some years,
they again started acting together and now occasionally they are seen on the
Stage performing for any good cause. Xavier Mendes is very active in
community affairs including in the Church. He along with his wife and other
family members of hers was very active in supporting Goa Kuwait Solidarity
Centre in Goa during the invasion period of Kuwait to support Kuwaits cause
while many of the tiatrists were not inspite of gaining so much from Kuwait.
Anthony Mendes was not only an artiste who performed comedy roles but he was
also a very good singer and some of his comedy songs are still aired on All
India Radio. All his songs are meaningful and highly philosophical. In one
of his songs he sings philosophically about romantic couple thus:
Ho tuzo guneaum, mozo guneaum, kestaum pettota
Bejeam svater, vontt poleancher, thapttam suzota
He used to compose his sings and sing not only in Konkani but occasionally
in English too. According to my information though he loved Konkani Stage
and also loved acting so much on the stage yet he never loved his sons
acting for reasons best known to him or may be during those days Tiatrists
carried black mark on their status? His sons started acting only after the
death of their father and of course, as per my information, with the strong
backing and encouragement of their beloved mother. She too is no more on
this planet. May Heavenly God give Anthony Mendes and his wife eternal
peace and keep his children safe and happy.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE!
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/
