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‘GOVT MUST SHOW EMPATHY, NOT APATHY TO KONKANI CINEMA’
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‘GOVT MUST SHOW EMPATHY, NOT APATHY TO KONKANI CINEMA’

Uncategorized November 14, 2025 , by

Says actor Prashanti Talpankar

By Praveena Sharma

PICK any Konkani movie; almost all of them have a compelling story to tell. Konkani movies are uncomfortably close to truth, dive into your conscience and shine with brilliant talent.
If at all, they fall short of anything it would be “commerciality.” That could be because Konkani filmmakers do not spend on marketing their movies due to paucity of funds. The “apathy” of decision makers in various government and private agencies has added to their woes.
All these, and more, are hampering the growth of Konkani film industry despite its movies garnering accolades and recognition within the country and outside.
Prashanti Talpankar – Konkani language activist, writer, translator, playwright, and actor – spoke to Goan Observer about what sustains and ails the Konkani film industry. Last month, the seasoned actor from Goa lifted the best actor award at the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA) in Toronto for her lead role in Konkani movie Ancessao.

PICK any Konkani movie; almost all of them have a compelling story to tell. Konkani movies are uncomfortably close to truth, dive into your conscience and shine with brilliant talent.
If at all, they fall short of anything it would be “commerciality.” That could be because Konkani filmmakers do not spend on marketing their movies due to paucity of funds. The “apathy” of decision makers in various government and private agencies has added to their woes.
All these, and more, are hampering the growth of Konkani film industry despite its movies garnering accolades and recognition within the country and outside.
Prashanti Talpankar – Konkani language activist, writer, translator, playwright, and actor – spoke to Goan Observer about what sustains and ails the Konkani film industry. Last month, the seasoned actor from Goa lifted the best actor award at the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA) in Toronto for her lead role in Konkani movie Ancessao.

How has the Konkani film industry evolved since you began acting?
We first struggled to get Konkani recognised as the official State language (Talpankar played an active role in the language agitation between 1985 and 1987). At that time, very few thought of making movies in Konkani. People were mostly making short films.
Then, there was a spell of outstanding Konkani movies being made by people like Rajendra Talak (Aleesha), Laxmikant Shetgaonkar (Eka Sagaar Kinare), A Salam (Nirmon), Sanjeev Prabhu Desai (Sood) and others. They were gaining recognition and awards.
This was followed by a period of lull in the industry because of financial crunch. About this time, we got together and put forth a proposal to the government for a financial assistance scheme like the one that existed in Maharashtra at the time. We approached Digambar Kamat, who was the chief minister of Goa then.
He gave us a nod for it. This gave a boost to the industry and encouraged filmmakers to make Konkani movies. Then, it was suddenly stopped, for no particular reason, in 2017 for some time and was resumed only last year.
Today, there are many young Konkani filmmakers, actors, cinematographer, and other creative people involved with Konkani movies, who have come out of prestigious film institutes in India and abroad. They need all the financial and non-financial assistance to fire them up in their creative pursuits.
What I am seeing is that instead of empathy, the government is showing apathy to the concerns and issues raised by us.

What are the issues being faced by the industry at this juncture?
Our struggles continue as we try to get the ears of those in charge and who can make a difference. For the last 10 years, it has been a major challenge to get funds for Konkani films. The government just stopped the finance scheme. They are least interested in these things. Delilah Lobo, who is the ESG (Entertainment Society of Goa) vice-chairperson, is very upfront in conveying her apathy to us by saying “I don’t understand anything about movies. I don’t know why we are being made a vice-chairman.”
There is total lack of interest in the government in resolving our issues.

What can be done to revive the industry?
First, the finance scheme for Konkani movies should continue uninterrupted. Goa should also consider emulating Maharashtra in making it mandatory for multiplexes to screen one Konkani movies during prime time.
The government takes 70% royalty for every movie screened at INOX since it still owns the building. They should waive off this royalty for Konkani movies as we are barely able to breakeven or recover our investments. The biennial Goa state film festivals should be regularly held on time and not clubbed together as it was done this year, when the 10th, 11th, and 12th editions were held jointly.
More categories should be added for Konkani feature film awards and the jury should consist of people who understand the craft and have a critical acumen for it. You cannot pick random people for it.
There is a need to create an ecosystem for filmmaking in Goa. We have to keep going out of the State for everything – from sourcing cameras to editing, mixing, dubbing, raising funds and other such things. This escalates the cost of making a movie and makes it commercially unviable.
Since very few Konkani movies are commercially successful, there should be subsidies on screening expenses besides the production subsidies. ESG should not charge screening fee from Konkani producers who cannot afford it.
There are no slots for short films in movie halls. Our request is to screen featurettes – a short film accompanying a full-length feature film – in theatres, like it was done in the olden days. This would give space to Konkani short films being made by today’s talented youngsters.

A Few Major Landmarks of Konkani Cinema
• Sukhi Konn was the first full-length Konkani film to be produced in 1949 by GMB Rodrigues but was never got released.
• The first Konkani Movie – Mogacho Aunddo (Love’s Craving) – was released on April 24, 1950 by Antonio Lourenço (Al) Jerry Braganza. It was screened at New Talkies in Mapusa.
• The first Konkani movie to win the National Film Award was Nirmon (The Destiny) in 1966. The film bagged two awards – one by actor C Alvares for his lead role and another was a Certificate of Merit for regional films. It was directed by A Salam and produced by Frank Fernand.
• Aleesha, a Konkani drama film directed by Rajendra Talak, won the National Award for best feature film in Konkani category in 2004.
• Konkani tele-film Eka Saagar Kinare (A Seaside Story), directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, won the Golden Conch award for best film at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) in 2004.
• Another film directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar titled Paltadacho Munis (The man Beyond the Bridge) was premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2009 and won the International Federation of Film Critics Prize for Discovery. It also bagged the narrative jury award at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was featured in world’s best films in 2009. The movie bagged the National Film Award for best feature film in Konkani and was nominated for the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema award in Berlin.
• One of the few commercially successful Konkani films Nachom-ia Kumpasar (Let’s Dance to the Rhythm) – a musical drama directed by Bardroy Barretto – picked up 24 international, three national, and 10 State awards. This movie, released in 2015, is the story of star-crossed lovers – jazz musicians Chris Perry and Lorna.
• Juze (Joseph), written and directed by Miransha Naik in 2017, won 14 awards at the Goa State Film Festival. It also won a special jury award at the Minsk Film Festival in Belarus and got three nominations at the New York International Film Festival. It premiered at the Hong Kong Film Festival and became the first Konkani movie to be commercially released in France. The movie was released in Goa with ‘A’ certificate in 2018.
• Konkani short film Ancessao (Life Out of Balance), directed by Manguirish J Bandodkar, lifted the best short film and the best actor (Prashanti Talpankar) awards at the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA) Toronto 2025.

Goa Scheme of Financial Assistance for Films
The financing scheme for films was initiated in 2011 by the then Chief Minister Digambar Kamat. Later, the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) introduced it, on behalf of the government, via a notification in the official gazette in 2016.
The scheme was discontinued for a brief period from 2017 to 2023. It was resumed last year. It is meant to provide financial assistance to Goan filmmakers, especially for feature films in Konkani and Marathi, and non-feature films in Konkani, Marathi, Hindi and English.

The Grant Structure
In the initial phase, the scheme offered grants up to Rs25 lakh. Later, the ceiling for grants was raised and bracketed into different categories.
For instance, feature films were entitled to grants up to Rs50 lakh in category A and Rs30 lakh or 50% of the cost, whichever was lower, in category B.
For non-feature films, there was grants of up to Rs10 lakh in category A, Rs5 lakh in category B and Rs3 lakh or 50% of the cost, whichever was lower, in category C.

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