Janet Noronha Productions are to set to commence their shooting for their second Konkani project, “Kantaar” which is to have an entire Goan flavour. Speaking to TG Life, Manglorean film actress and singer, Ester Noronha reveals about her upcoming film
BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
Q: What is the new film all about? How did the story idea germinate?
Ester Noronha: It is a musical film on the philosophy of life and its value. About cherishing the little joys of life and the land we belong to, the culture, the people in our life, around us, their importance, and the positive approach towards life and so on.
The idea was inspired from our observation of the world’s perception about Goa and our culture. We think it is time that we redefine ourselves on global platforms and represent our culture, language and land through our own films rather than the age-old stereotypical misinterpreted projection by other language films who have time and again reduced Goa and Goans to just a particular image that we all know of.
Q: Kantaar is the name of your upcoming film. Is it centered on a singer?
Ester: The title is “Kantaar -A song of life”. I am a singer myself as people already know and I am playing as a singer in the movie too and it is about my life. So it fits aptly in every way.
Q: Of late, Mangalorean Konkani films are reaching out to the Goa market. How do you look at the industry?
Ester: Well, I look at Konkani as a whole language rather than reducing it down to dialects, accents, regions, etc. According to me an industry, language or even community only progresses when we start thinking big and looking at the bigger picture. I am happy that people too are starting to open up and think similarly. It is a good thing that Mangalorean and Goan Konkani is slowly coming under one roof. But “Kantaar” is a complete “Goan project” in that sense. As the Konkani used will be purely Goan, the supporting cast and crew is all Goan and the film is completely being shot in Goa.
Q: What were the challenges that the Production House faced in coming up with this film?
Ester: The stage at which our language and the industry are right now can be called as the blooming stage or growing stage, so the challenges are many. We need to stand up to the quality and production values of other language films and the investment is huge. But unlike the bigger industries, the recovery and its speed is not assured. Yet we cannot compromise because the audience today is exposed to world cinema and expects a high quality of project. So, we are putting all our trust in our people who haven’t let us down so far. We believe that when we provide dedication and quality, people definitely see it and appreciate it. They always have with all my work so far. Even “Despacito - Konkani Cover song” was one such attempt and people responded overwhelmingly.
Q: If you could tell us about the locations chosen for the film.
Ester: We have chosen the South of Goa for all our locations mainly Benaulim, Varca, Colva, Rachol, etc. More than the villages it’s the places and structures that we’ve chosen to capture that are precious.
Q: If you could headline who are part of the film …
Ester: The main star cast of the film is Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, Tollywood actor Noel Sean (who featured with me in Despacito (Konkani Cover song) apart from myself. We have chosen this cast as they fit the characters and its requirements like hand in glove and their experience and expertise in the field will definitely give our movie and language the required push on bigger platforms.
Q: Tell us about the kind of music that will be part of this film and who is to be a part of it.
Ester: We are proud to announce that Lorna Cordeiro, the nightingale of Goa is doing playback as well as appearing on the silver screen for the first time in this movie. The songs are going to be in Jazz and Blues style. I will be singing for myself of course. There are other Goan singers too.
Q: On your future projects...
Ester: I am doing a few other language projects currently. There are two films in Kannada which are close to completion, one in Telugu and besides two Bollywood projects. That is all I can disclose for now.
