Konkani Cinema Day is celebrated on April 24th to commemorate the release of the first Konkani film, “Mogacho Aunddo” (Love’s Craving), directed by Al Jerry Braganza, on that day in 1950. This year, 2025, is the 75^th anniversary of Konkani Cinema Day and it coincides with the 50^th anniversary of the movie “Boglantt” (Slander).

Boglantt was the tenth Konkani film to be released and the last to be shot in black and white. The cast featured Prem Kumar, Alfred Rose, Rita Rose, Souza Ferrao, Betty Naz, Joe Rose, Ophelia, Seby Coutinho, Filu Fernandes, Paul Romy, and Betty Girl.

When I first heard the songs from the film Boglantt, I was eager to watch the movie. In classic Konkani cinema, it’s often the musical scenes that leave the most lasting impression, and I found myself longing for a “music video” to accompany the soundtrack. Although the film wasn’t available on YouTube, some online digging revealed that it had been released on DVD in 2011, along with several other Konkani classics. Armed with this newfound information, I set out to explore the few remaining music stores in Goa. I managed to find DVDs of Amchem Noxib (1963) and Bhuierantlo Munis (1977), but sadly, Boglantt remained elusive.

After giving up on finding the DVD, I stumbled upon it quite unexpectedly. I was wandering through the lanes of Mapusa, documenting Art Deco structures, when I heard music playing from a small shop hidden behind pink teddy bears. Curious, I stepped inside and struck up a short conversation with the man behind the counter. That’s when I noticed three copies of the Boglantt DVD perched on the topmost shelf. I bought two—just in case one didn’t work—and left the third, hoping someone else might stumble upon it and feel just as thrilled. I’ve popped into the shop a few times since, and that third copy is still sitting there, patiently waiting to be discovered.

Watching the film and singing along to its songs was a wholesome experience. Due to the efforts of Jerome Mendes, a Goan entrepreneur with roots in Verna, this movie was released on DVD decades after its release.

This movie released in 1975, was produced and directed by Muthukrishnan Das under the banner of ‘Ambika Films’. It was based on Prem Kumar’s Tiatr (Konkani stage drama) titled ‘No Vacancy’. Prem Kumar, the stage name of Pedro Xavier D’Costa, hailed from the village of Chandor in South Goa. Having staged 55 Tiatrs and acting in over 500 more, Prem Kumar is credited with revolutionizing the Tiatr stage. In Boglantt, he played the lead actor. The plot of the movie follows the life of the protagonist from childhood till he’s an adult and has its fair share of drama, joy and heartbreak along the way.

Alfred Rose, who wrote the lyrics and performed six songs, also stars as a doctor in the movie. Without giving away much of the plot, he plays the role of a kind man but doesn’t have a major part on screen. Behind the scenes though, most of the music is credited to him.

I spoke with Betty Naz, Joe Rose and Rita Rose to delve deeper into the making of the movie.

A young Betty Naz played the protagonist’s mother, a role for which she was aged up by several decades. While she didn’t remember too many details, one of her most memorable moments on set was filming a scene where she had to lie inside a coffin. With cotton packed into her nose and mouth, it was far from easy. The role originally belonged to another actress who refused to perform the coffin scene and that’s how Betty ultimately landed the part.

“My experience is that we were all together, and we were helping each other. It was a lovely experience for me”

Joe Rose—no relation to Alfred or Rita Rose—is a man of many talents. From releasing his music on vinyl (EPs and LPs), audio cassettes, and CDs, to acting in films and tiatrs, he’s done it all. He’s also directed and written tiatrs, showcasing his versatility in the Goan performing arts scene. I had the privilege of spending time with Joe Rose at his home in Olaulim, Goa, where we spoke at length on a wide range of topics. Every visit feels like a blink—hours pass quickly as we dive into conversations about everything under the sun.

When I asked him about his memories of shooting Boglantt, he recalled that it was filmed over 15 days at Saldanha Farms in Mangalore. Frequent power cuts disrupted the schedule, leading to delays. Paul Romy, who played a comedic role in the film, had long hair that he kept trimming to fashion a toothbrush mustache for his character. With each delay, he had to snip a little more. “By the end,” Joe Rose joked, “Paul was running out of hair!”

One particular scene, the New Year’s party song sequence, was filmed at the iconic Premier Studios in Mysore. Joe Rose recalls that during the Boglantt shoot, J. Jayalalithaa, the future Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, was on a neighboring set, working on a different film. At the time, Premier Studios was one of the largest film studios in Asia, attracting productions from across the Indian subcontinent in multiple regional languages. Sadly, much of the studio was demolished in 2018 to make way for a high-rise development.

Rita Rose was in Goa during the Christmas season, and we arranged to meet in Saligao, where she was staying. After getting a few of my records autographed and chatting about the current Konkani music scene, I asked her about her memories from the filming of Boglantt. One question I was particularly curious about was why the movie had been shot in Mangalore instead of Goa.

Rita explained that the director, Das, had initially hoped to receive a subsidy from the Goa government. When that didn’t come through, he chose to shoot the film in Mangalore, where the local government was offering financial support for film productions.

The cast and crew travelled from Bombay to Mangalore by train and stayed for a month in a modest city hotel. Filming, however, took place on the outskirts, at a coffee estate.

She recalls how the director avoided retakes whenever possible to save time. In one scene, Alfred Rose had his coat buttons misaligned, but the director waved it off, saying it looked natural and decided to keep the shot as it was.

When I asked Rita about her most memorable moment from the shoot, she recalled a humorous incident that took place during a beachside scene. Unaware of the windy conditions that day, she found herself struggling to keep her three-tiered skirt from flying up in the breeze, having to hold it down throughout the take.

As our conversation shifted to the music in the film, Rita proudly shared that all eight songs were recorded in a single day at Filmalaya Studio in Bombay. Working with a tight budget, the production could only afford to book the studio for one day. Fortunately, the Recording Engineer, so taken by the music, volunteered to work overtime to complete the album. Rita overheard him later telling his assistant, with genuine admiration, that Alfred’s voice was exceptional. This was coming from someone who had also worked with the likes of Kishore Kumar.

The eight songs from this movie were released on vinyl by HMV across 4 EPs. To have the full album, you had to buy four vinyl discs. Interestingly, none of the discs are labelled Side A or Side B.

What caught my attention was that the song ‘Sukh Aalem Lotton’ is 45 seconds longer on the EP and has an extra paragraph that’s not found on online streaming platforms. It’s little things like this that I love about vinyl records.

From romantic ballads like Tum Mojem Sukh, a popular slow dance number at Goan weddings, to the lively and upbeat Novem Vorus, where Delphine’s vocals are sure to get you grooving, this soundtrack stands out as a timeless classic.

One of my favourite scenes from the movie is at a restaurant where Delphine belts out ‘Sukhnem Sukhnem’ while a band accompanies her in the background. Delphine, dressed in 70s fashion, walks around the room singing, while the band has an accordion, standing bass, drums, trumpet and electric guitar accompanying her.

The band makes another appearance later in the movie at a New Years party where Delphine sings ‘Novem Voros’.

In September 2022, the complete movie was uploaded to YouTube and it had fewer than a 100 views at the time of writing this article.

In the 60s and 70s, Alfred Rose published lyric booklets as he kept releasing new songs. In Alfred Rose-acheam ‘Kantarancho Jhelo No. 6’, released in October 1975, he wrote that he was happy that the songs of “Bhoglantt” have become famous and on the request of many people he is releasing the lyrics of those songs in that booklet.

As Boglantt marks its 50th anniversary in 2025, it is the film’s music that continues to preserve and celebrate its legacy.

Editorial note: Boglantt, in Romi Konkani, translates to slander or aspersion in English. It is spelt differently on different media – Boglantt(vinyl), Bogllantt (DVD), Bhoglantt (lyrics booklet) and Boglant (audio streams).