Who doesn’t like to see the underdog win?
That’s why Goans all over the world are rooting for Nachom-ia Kumpasar (Let’s dance to the rhythm), the crowd-funded Konkani film among 112 films in contention for a nomination in the original score category for the 88th Academy Awards. It also made it to the list of 305 feature films in the running for best picture nominations.
On January 29, the film, which has won several awards and travelled to film festivals around the world, including London, Melbourne and Chicago, will be screened at the Indian High School auditorium in Dubai, more than a year after it was first opened to packed houses in Goa on December 4, 2014.
Made on a shoestring budget of Rs45 million (Dh2.5 million), Nachom-ia Kumpasar pays tribute to the unsung Goan musicians of the ’60s and ’70s.
Ten years ago, director Bardroy Baretto, an advertising professional, decided to make a film about Chris Perry and Lorna Cordeiro, two of Goa’s music legends and the toast of Mumbai’s jazz scene in the ’60s and ’70s. However, during the seven years of research, Baretto discovered other Goan musicians such as Chic Chocolate and Anthony Gonsalves, who never got their due in Bollywood. Thus was born Nachom-ia Kumpasar, with the film taking its title from the Konkani song composed by Perry in the ’60s.
Speaking to Gulf News from Mumbai, Baretto said the film was shot in a mere 43 days in Goa, Mumbai and Kolkata. “What started out as a two-person story grew much bigger the more I researched,” Baretto said. Interestingly, the lead pair of Vijay Maurya and Palomi Ghosh are not Goans, but their performance will have you think otherwise. “Vijay is a friend and was already cast as lead five years before the shoot began,” Baretto said. “Palomi was finalised just 20 days before shooting started.”
The reason it took six to seven months of auditions to finalise the female lead is because the two-hour, 45-minute-long film features 20 songs, of which Ghosh has sung two. “I wanted an actor who could sing and Palomi was a natural,” Baretto said.
Maurya is an accomplished Indian actor, who has played character roles in several Bollywood movies.
With the help of two language coaches and hours of rehearsals, the two actors were ready to play the fictionalised roles of Perry and Lorna.
The next challenge was reproducing the songs originally composed by Perry. “I did not want synthesised sound,” Baretto said. “The process had to be organic.”
Music directors Jacob Pereira and Ronnie Monserrate were tasked with putting together a 36-string orchestra, a brass band and veteran musicians to painstakingly create the film’s background score. “We deliberately underplayed the quality to bring in the feel of the ’60s,” Baretto said.
Nachom-ia Kumpasar, which has won two National Awards for its music and production, has never had a theatre release. It is screened for the Goan diaspora at Dolby technology-equipped auditoriums whenever possible. There are no marketing campaigns; it is promoted on social media and through word of mouth.
“It is a deliberate decision,” Baretto said. “We chose a slow-burn strategy over the conventional two-week one. Also, we wanted to reach out to the Goan diaspora and prove that Konkani films can achieve commercial success along with critical acclaim.”
