NT NETWORK
MARGAO: Tiatrist Anil Chandrakant Devulkar, popularly known as Anil Kumar, passed away Friday at the Goa Medical College at Bambolim succumbing to a brief illness. Anil Kumar resided at Fatorda, Margao.
He was 65 and is survived by his tiatrist wife Fatima and children. The final rites will be held at Margao crematorium on Saturday at 4 pm.
Kumar was a gifted artiste. At a young age, he got the opportunity to hone his talent on the tiatr stage. He acted in famous khell tiatrs and tiatrs. He performed in tiatrs written by late M Boyer, C Alvares, Jacinto Vaz, John Claro, Kamat de Assolna and many more.
He directed the tiatrs ‘Bhirant,’ ‘Dev Podvekar,’ ‘Savlli,’ ‘Divea Pondak,’ ‘Mai, What is This?’ and gained applause from the tiatr viewers. He had done many character roles. He also acted in the Konkani feature films ‘Girestkai,’ ‘To Dis Udela,’ ‘Bhitorlea Monacho Monis.’ He acted in the Hindi feature film ‘Laxman Rekha’ and Hindi TV serial ‘Circus.’
Anil Kumar was presented lifetime achievement awards by various institutions like the Dalgado Konkani Akademi in 2012, Tiatr Academy in 2012, Kala Academy in 2008 and the department of art and culture, Goa government, in 2012- 13.
The Tiatr Academy of Goa has condoled the death of Anil Kumar. In a press release, it has said, “On behalf of the tiatr fraternity and tiatr lovers, the Tiatr Academy of Goa condoles the death of this great personality and expresses hearthfelt sympathies to his bereaved family and prays that the Almighty may give his soul eternal peace.”
Born on March 12, 1951, at Chandor, Anil Kumar was a senior actor, producer, director and playwright of the tiatr stage. He proved himself as a very versatile actor, an innovative director and a playwright, who projected an issue with thorough understanding. If one goes through the life history of Anil Kumar, one observes that he had immense love for tiatr and tiatr stage. This attitude of Anil Kumar gave him encouragement to achieve greater heights in the field of tiatr and he succeeded in his endeavours.
Anil Kumar 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 acting in khell-tiatrs helped the popular directors of the khell-tiatrs to take the standard and quality of such tiatrs in Goa to greater heights.
He made his debut on the professional tiatr stage in 1980 in the tiatr entitled ‘Ordhi Bhakri’ written, produced and directed by Prem Kumar. Later on, he worked with tiatr 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 and made efforts to portray them in the best possible manner. He was a good writer too. He has written tiatrs on various issues. The content of his tiatrs proved that Anil Kumar’s writing was rich which helped him highlight the issues in an effective manner. He has penned tiatrs like ‘Otmo,’ ‘Bhirant,’ ‘Saulli,’ ‘Divea Pondak,’ ‘Dev Podvedar,’ ‘Dennem Devachem,’ Noxib,’ ‘Axechi Bhuk’ to name a few. He himself directed all his tiatrs, which were well received by the audience. Some of his tiatrs have also been published in the form of books.
Being a director of substance, Anil Kumar also directed tiatrs written by stalwarts of the tiatr stage. Two of the most popular tiatrs – ‘Ekuch Rosto’ and‘Soumsar Sudhorlo’ written by M Boyer were reproduced under the direction of Anil Kumar. So also, another tiatr ‘Ordhi Bhakri,’ which was written by yet another superstar of Konkani stage late Prem Kumar was directed and staged by Anil Kumar. The scripts of the greats of tiatr stage of yesteryears like Souza Ferrao and Father of Tiatr Joao Agostinho Fernandes were also staged under the direction of Anil Kumar. He may perhaps be the only artiste, who had the opportunity to direct tiatr ‘Ghovyo Put’ written by late Souza Ferrao, and ‘Tandllamchem Kestaum’ written by Joao Agostinho Fernandes, the Father of Tiatr.
Anil Kumar’s abilities were not limited to the field of tiatr alone. He also acted in M Das’s Konkani film ‘Girestkai’ and Pundalik Narayan Naik’s ‘Doulot.’ Besides this, he has also acted in a number of video films like ‘Zababdari,’ ‘To Dis Udetlo,’ ‘Bhitorlea Monacho Monis,’ ‘Ordhem Cheador’ etc. He also produced video films ‘Moneak Zap Suttli’ and ‘Bhavart Bhorvonso,’ which were appreciated by the audience.
Anil Kumar has been a recipient of the State Cultural Award presented by the government of Goa. He has also been felicitated by various institutions including the Tiatr Academy of Goa for his lifetime contribution to the field of tiatr.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Film Fraternity of Goa has mourned the sad demise of Anil Kumar and extended its deepest condolences to his family.