*PRESS NOTE* IN FAVOUR OF PUBLICATION
*TAG to hold Condolence Meet for late Comedian X. Almeida, Anil Kumar and Zeferino de Calangute on 19th February 2015 at Margao* Veteran tiatr artistes Francis Xavier Almeida, popularly known as Comedian X. Almeida, Anil C. Devulkar (Anil Kumar) and Hilario Zeferino Silveira (Zeferin de Calangute, prominent tiatr personalities recently passed away. They will be paid tributes by the Tiatr Academy of Goa in a Condolence Meet to be held on 19th February 2015 at 4:00 pm at Black Box, Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, Fatorda Goa. *F.X. Almeida: * F.X. first stepped on tiatr stage at the age of 10. He excelled as a comedian and singer. He made his debut in Casiano D'Costa's Tiatr, ‘Ti Mhoji Zau’. He acted in more than 100 tiatrs of directors like Fr. Planton Faria (Kallokhantlo Suria), Fr. Caetano D’Costa (Kitem Hanvem Kelem?), Roseferns, Ligorio Fernandes, Premanand A. Lotlikar, Patrick Dourado, M. Boyer, Jacinto Vaz, Rosario Rodrigues, Menino de Bandar, Pascoal Rodrigues, Anthony San, Jose Mascarenhas (‘Krim Kedinch Bhogsona’, ‘Dev Dotor Duddu’, ‘Vaitt Yeta Boreak’), C. D. Silva, John Claro, Mike Mehta, Anil Kumar and many more. He had directed and produced his very own comedy video film entitled ‘Time Pass’. He had also acted in Konkani film ‘Girestkai’. State Government had bestowed upon him Kala Gaurav Puraskar for his outstanding contribution to the field of tiatr. *Anil Kumar: * Anil Kumar one of the most versatile actors who enthralled the audience with his acting abilities was born on 12th March 1951 at Chandor Goa. He made his entry on the tiatr stage through Khell-Tiatrs and rose to become one of the topmost tiatr artistes of Konkani stage. He worked and brushed shoulders with professional Khell-Tiatr producers, writers, directors like *Patrick Dourado, Rosario Rodrigues, A. M. Pacheco, Minino De Bandar, Vitorino Pereira, Ligorio Fernandes, C. D. Silva, John D’Silva, Prince Jacob, Pascoal Rodrigues,* etc. As a born artiste Anil Kumar’s brilliant acting in Khell-Tiatrs helped the popular directors of Khell-Tiatrs to take the standard and quality of Khell-Tiatr in Goa to greater heights and also spread the popularity of Khell-Tiatr to Mumbai and other cities like Pune and Mangalore which otherwise was only catering to professional Tiatrs. He made his debut on professional tiatr stage in 1980 in the tiatr entitled *‘Ordhi Bhakri’* written, produced and directed by Prem Kumar. Later on he worked with stalwarts like *M. Boyer, C. Alvares, Chris Perry, Remmie Colaco, Jacinto Vaz, Nelson Alfonso, Kamat de Assolna, Shalini Mardolkar, John Claro, Alfred Rose, Mike Mehta, Joe Rose, Paul Romy, Rodhill, Seby D’Souza, Fr. Freddy, Fr. Planton Faria,* etc. One of the most important qualities in Anil Kumar was that he studied his roles with depth and perfection made efforts to portray it in the best possible manner. He was a good writer too. He has written tiatrs on various issues that exist in our society. The scripts of his tiatrs, proved that Anil Kumar’s writing was full of rich contents which helped him to highlight the issue in an effective manner. Till now he penned tiatrs like *‘Otmo’, ‘Bhirant’, ‘Saulli’, ‘Divea Pondak’, ‘Dev Podvedar’, ‘Dennem Devachem’, Noxib’, ‘Axechi Bhuk’, ‘Maim What is This?’ *to name a few. He himself directed all his tiatrs which were very much received by the audience. Some of his tiatrs are also published in book forms. Besides this, it has been revealed that he has also been a *‘ghost writer’* for many a tiatr writers/ directors. He is a recipient of State Cultural Award from Government of Goa and was also felicitated by various institutions including Tiatr Academy of Goa for his Lifetime Contribution to the field of Tiatr. *Zeferino Silveira:* Hilario Joao Zeferino Silveira, popularly known as Zeferino de Calangute was very fond of singing and acting right from his childhood. At the early age of 5 he captured the art of singing and gained popularity among the villagers. Then he got an opportunity to participate in *zagors *a very popular traditional form of folk dance/drama. Soon he started writing his own scripts for *zagors* and became very popular all over Bardez. Later he left for Bombay for taking employment. He wrote his first tiatr entitled ‘Bhurgeanchi Durdoxea’ with a professional cast which won the hearts of tiatr lovers. Encouraged by his success, Zeferino further wrote many more tiatrs. Other tiatr directors also invited him to sing and act in their tiatrs. When Zeferino came down to Goa, he produced a tiatr, ‘Duddvankar’ with the youths of Calangute, encouraged the young talent in his village. For some time while he was in Karachi, there too he staged some tiatrs. He also staged some tiatrs in Delhi where he worked for some time. Then he moved over to Gulf countries and then to London and never gave up of performing tiatrs in those countries too. Zeferino had written nearly 30 tiatrs during his career. ‘Bhurgeanchi Durdoxea’, ‘Duddvankar’, ‘Anton Bhattkar’, ‘Sirvidor’, ‘Rogtacho Fors’, ‘Pai Tum Chol Ghara’, ‘Bogos Saiba’, ‘Amchea Bapa’, ‘Ghovalem Ghor’, ‘Modlolo Khuris’ are some names of his tiatrs. Besides acting and singing, Zeferino was also a prominent and most sought after make-up artiste once upon a time. All tiatr lovers are requested to attend the condolence meet and pay their respectful homage to these late artistes. *(Jose Alexandre Rodrigues)* Member Secretary *Encl:* Photos of late artistes
