Hailing from Colva, Josephine Dias is one of the most well known artistes of the Konkani stage. The veteran has dedicated 50 years of her life to this Goan art form
J.P. Pereira
Coming from a family of writers and actors, Josephine Dias is an artiste who has given her life to tiatr. Known for her humorous roles, besides the serious ones, the lady never failed to make an impression in the tiatrs she has acted in.
In school, at the Holy Spirit Institute in Margao, she would act in the plays there. Seeing her enthusiasm, her father Casiano D’Costa, a tiatr writer, introduced his young daughter in his tiatr titled, ‘Ti Mhoji Maim’. She acted so well and left the audience stunned! “It was a day of joy and happiness for me,” she remembers. The proud father who recognised that his girl had talent, promoted her in whatever way he could. “That was one of the main reasons that I took to the stage and acted for most of the directors in those days”, she says.
‘Birankul’ was the next tiatr by her father and then she was booked by Antonio Sinforiano, to make her debut on the commercial stage in ‘Maim Tum Asli Zalear’. She was seen in top writer- director Minguel Rod’s ‘Lembddo Santan’ and ‘Pobre Fidalgo. C.Alvares presented her in ‘Rinn’ and ‘Durig’. The showman of the Konkani stage cast her in ‘Mortikar’ and ‘Ordhi Bakri’ and Padmashri M. Boyer cast her in ‘Ekuch Kazar’ and ‘Mog Kazar Divorce’. There were several others too like ‘Kuniad ani Mana’ and ‘Bombay Dekho’ by the great comedian Jacinto Vaz, ‘Divorce’ and ‘Doya’ by Airistides Dias, and ‘Portuguese Kollvont’ and ‘Camil Botler’ by John Claro in which her performances were well received. Besides these, she made her mark in plays by Felcy, Anil Kumar, Mike Mehta, Nelson Afonso, Rico Rod, Menino de Bandar, and so many others. She has also acted in Lenten plays and was part of the ‘Via Dolorosa’, a Lenten
presentation.
“I directed ‘Tarvotti’ written by Joaquim D’Costa, my brother. This tiatr had most of the top artistes and was staged all over Goa,” she says. Her audio album, ‘Pordexi’ was well accepted. The artiste also lent her voice to various other Konkani albums like ‘25 Vorsam’ from M. Boyer, ‘Goemcho Fuddar’ by Steve Rod, ‘No Time’ by Socorro de Sta Cruz, and ‘Kid-Young-Rod by Jr. Rod, and many others. On stage, she was often paired with Jr. Rod, for many interesting duets. David Costa’s ‘Maimcho Upkar’ and M.Boyer’s ‘Tiatrist’ were some of the video albums she has acted in. “I have only made good use of the talent bestowed on me,” she says.
Dias has toured Mumbai, Pune, Karwar, Sawantwadi, Malvan, and the Gulf countries like Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, and Oman to perform. The artiste now lives in Santa Cruz, and spends time in various church activities. “I am one of the leaders of the Charismatic group for nearly 10 years and have been an Eucharistic Minister for 19 years now for our Church,” she says. “This is a tiny offering to my God, who has blessed me.”
Dias feels that the tiatr scene has improved a lot. “Newcomers who are interested should be encouraged. At the same time, they should also be respectful to their seniors and directors. For this reason, my son and his wife has instituted an award to a promising new entrant in my name,” she says. On July 19, as she celebrates her 75th birthday, the first ‘Josephine Dias Puraskar’ will be presented through the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) to an upcoming young artiste, below the age of 16. All the contribution that the lady has made for tiatr has been substantiated with this award, which will be presented annually. A book titled ‘Ema…the mystery girl’ by her husband, the late F.X. Dias will also be released on the occasion. A writer and contributor to various Konkani newspapers and magazines, he wrote and directed the tiatr, ‘Morna Uprant’ in which Dias had acted.