Come September and Curtorim born Tiatrist Cajie D’Souza feels nostalgic recalling his journey into his favourite performing art, tiatr, where he writes songs, sings and acts for the past decade.
Cajie’s latest cantar ‘OCI’, released on his YouTube channel, is making rounds and gathering applauds from tiatr ‘mogis’ in Goa, Dubai, UK and other countries where he has performed live.
“The song has appealed to most Goans residing in India and abroad, as the topic ‘OCI’ is very unique and also relevant to them. The song was released on July 24 and many of the parish priests have called me, appreciating my work,” states Cajie, in a telephonic talk from Dubai with The Goan.
Cajie, who lives in Dubai for the past 18 years, has nurtured his love for the Goan khell tiatr from his childhood and though he did not get any chance to show his talent in Goa, he manages to sing and act in tiatr, taking out time on Friday-Saturday through his busy schedule in Dubai where he works for a finance company.
Cajie has released seven hit video cantars on YouTube, the first of them being ‘Organaizeracho Raza’ on November 1, 2015, which was composed by him. Ramiro Mascarenhas gave music, Moonbyte Studio Dubai had done the videography. This song was dedicated to Anthony De Varca for fulfilling his childhood dream to sing and act on the Konkani stage.
In his second video song ‘Goemkarancho Fuddar Kitem’, Cajie introduced his wife Marissa D Costa as a debut artist who sang along with him and Nakash Borkar. Cajie used his spare time to pen cantars and do the corrections with Ramiro Mascarenhas before releasing them on YouTube during the lockdown and could offer one song every three months.
Cajie will be completing a decade of singing and acting in tiatr this month. “September is very lucky for me, as apart from it being my birth month, it was in this month that I made an entry in tiatr exactly 10 years ago, in 2011. It was a cantar in director Milagrise de Chandor’s tiatr ‘Mother’s Day’ and a small role of a comedian. After this debut performance, I got many chances and I could entertain the audience through songs and comedy,” says Cajie, who sang his first off-the-stage cantar at a house party in Dubai, organized by Anthony de Varca. A friend John Rose introduced Cajie to Anthony who impressed by his performance, offered him his first chance in a staged tiatr.
Cajie’s second performance was also in September, in Kuwait, in a 2012 tiatr ‘Aplea Bhurguim Sangattak’, of Manuel Xavier Dias, and this time too Anthony recommended his name. The third cantar Cajie sang was in London, in 2014, in tiatr ‘Tim Thikam Sanddalelim’, where he also had a small comedy role. There was no looking back then – Cajie became popular with ‘Reporter’ where he had to perform on short notice, a villain’s role. The actor could not make it on time, and on Anthony de Varca’s request, Cajie did his best. “People began appreciating my singing and acting skills,” smiles Cajie, whose tiatr ‘Patakachem Farikponn Chukona’ had a role of a special person. “I was ‘lolo’ in the tiatr and my acting was liked by all,” he recalls.
Cajie began composing his songs under the guidance of John Rose. Tiatr ‘Pavlar Pavl Marun’ offered him the main role, of a CID agent who disguises as a servant and works in a home, finally catching his owner red-handed. In ‘Zhadd’ he acted as a priest with Prince Jacob and Roseferns. In ‘Munis Munxeancho Bazaar’ he acted as an electronic media reporter, depicting that pen is mightier than the sword.
Thankful for his mentor, Anthony de Varca who was instrumental in bringing him into tiatr world, Cajie uploaded a song weaving the names of Anthony’s 25 tiatrs in it, as a gesture of gratitude for his friend, philosopher and guide.
Cajie’s love for tiatr began as a child. Born to Heraclito and Natalia Maria D Costa, Cajie used to collect the advertisement pamphlets thrown by the tempos announcing the arrival or opening of tiatr in town. “I had no money to buy a ticket to watch a tiatr, but that did not dampen my spirit. I used to run after the tempos and collect pamphlets of tiatr. Since we had no radio at home, I used to sit on the compound walls of neighbours and listen to the cantaras on the radio, and even tried to sing them. My late mother was the first person to gift me a radio in my childhood. It cost her Rs 200 then. It was my ‘besao’ amount. I listened to cantaras, manajogti geeta on the radio, which was a companion for me while I studied,” recalls Cajie, whose humble beginning coupled with his love for tiatr, made him climb the ladder of success and reach where he is today.
