Venantius, Thanks for your post... Googling for some links took me to the following:
We the Goans… http://musafiri.rediffblogs.com/ Bombay's Watson's Hotel had been host to India's first cinema screening on July 7, 1896, a show that advertised itself as "living photographic pictures in life-sized reproductions by Messrs Lumiere Brothers". By New Year's day in 1900, the Tivoli Theatre was screening 25 pictures, with music by a string band. A portrait photographer named Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar became the first Indian to import a motion-picture camera from London and he shot a wrestling match between two well-known musclemen in 1897. Other locally-shot films followed, including Alibaba, Hariraj and Buddha by a Bengali named Hiralal Sen. A creative flashback projects the tantalising image of Bombay audiences drinking in black-and-white scenes from Indian folktales as a Goan string quartet trots out phrases from Mozart and snatches of mandos, varying the tempo to match the action on screen. Goans have stayed in the picture ever since. Quoted in: http://www.anothersubcontinent.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t9291.html Saturday, January 03, 2009 The Swinging Sounds of Goa One of the most famous Konkani pop songs from the 1960s is Lorna's "Bebdo". Here it is, with lyrics and translation: Pretty swinging, huh? The sassy tone and subject matter reminds me a little of Trinidadian Calypso from around the same period. It's true that there is a dark side to these types of songs (alcoholism, and the hint of domestic violence), but there is also a buoyancy and power in her voice that I really enjoy. (Are there other 60s Goan/Konkani tracks available on sites like YouTube that readers would recommend?) http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2009/01/swinging-sounds-of-goa.html also here: The Swinging Sounds of Goa: the 1960s http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005571.html Ina Mina Dika is from the 1957 movie Aasha. The music director was C.Ramachandran, who also composed 'Ana meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday', and songs from Albela, Anarkali and the famous patriotic song 'Aye mere watan ke logon'. He had a Goan assistant composer,John Gomes (from Wikipedia), and the song undoubtedly has Goan influences apart from the Konkani words 'Maka naka naka'. http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005571.html Frederick Noronha
