Arona with Richie Lasrado - Resident Editor ,
Daijiworld.com - Mangalore
with pics by Dayanand Kukkaje
When the young girl, busy preparing for the premiere
show of her maiden movie in the city, walked into the
Daijiworld office on a courtesy visit, there were no
put-on airs.
The blushing and inquisitive look told us the way she
would acquaint herself with us. We immediately got
into a free conversation. Daijiworld's lensman
Dayanand Kukkaje needed no further clues or hints, and
he readily got into action at once for some candid
shots.
Arona Fernandes, the newly-moulded heroine of the
Konkani movie 'Padri', still has the innocent and
unaffected temperament about her.
Born of Albert and Rosie of Derebail origin, but
currently domiciled in Permannur, Arona certainly drew
our curiosity with her unique name. Their parents have
only two issues. The elder is Benedicta, a doctor,
married, and a practising Oncologist in distant
Dronachalam - Drone, in short - in Andhra Pradesh.
When that was a sober, holy-sounding name, why Arona -
an exotic name - we asked, with tongues firmly in
cheek. She says, A stood for Albert, her dad, Ro for
Rosie, her mom - and finally Na joined to represent
'Aeronautics' - a certainly flying, out-of-this-space
idea. Some logic. Some ingenuity.
Arona, while at school (Nitte-managed in Deralakatte),
had acted in many plays. But somewhere down in her
heart, she had that craving to act in movies. Since
she regularly took part in fancy dress contests, there
was no such thing like stage fright.
But would she like to mould herself like some great
screen celebrity? Certainly, no, says she. While she
would aspire to win the kind of roles some great
actresses played, she would also like to carve out an
image of her own. Not that she would get stereotyped
into a certain department of histrionics. She is keen
on playing both comedy and tragic roles. It is her
idea to take up different roles as challenges.
At the same time, since she is a trained classical
dancer, would she like to take up a role of the kind
that a Manju Bhargavi emoted in 'Shankarabharanam' or
a Sudha Chandran in 'Nache Mayuri'? It was a good
question from us, partly leading though. She grabs the
chance and willingly says 'yes'.
How did she land the role in 'Padri'? She chanced
upon that ad that appeared in 'Raknno' Konkani weekly
calling for new faces for the leading lady's role in
the movie and she immediately applied for it. Since
she had already taken part in the choreographed
presentations in Wilfy Nites, she got a strong
recommendation from Wilfy Rebimbus as well. Besides,
she had already caught the attention of the film's
producer, Raymond Quadros, with her nimble dance
performance at the 'Henry Nite' held in Bangalore some
time ago, where Quadros was actively involved in the
organization. And her career took off and took shape.
But was there any resistance from the family or
apprehensions of a stigma in the society? Never. The
parents were so supportive and gave all encouragement,
she gratefully recalls. But her education took a break
after SSLC, but now that the rush of the film-making
is over, she is seriously pursuing her graduation in
Arts at the University of Mysore at present.
Where there any interesting things that happened
during the making of 'Padri'? - we were curious to
know. The most remembered episode - still on top of
her mind - was an accident that took place near Panaji
while on her way on a shooting schedule. Otherwise,
the two teams - one from Goa and another from
Karnataka - joining together in making this movie was
the most fascinating part of the whole experience.
There was a total family kind of a camaraderie, she
recalls.
But, what about the Goan diction of Konkani she had to
adhere to? She says she is being mentioned in the
beginning of the movie as a Mangalorean girl. But she
adjusts to the Goan way of speaking later on. Dubbing?
No way, she says. It is her own, own voice throughout,
she says possessively.
What is the public response she would envisage for the
Konkani movie 'Padri'? She is aware that the market
is limited for Konkani movies. But with the kind of
mixed ingredients and innovations that the makers of
'Padri' - producer Raymond Quadros and director Rajesh
Fernandes - have attempted to pack into it, she says,
a new life may be breathed into the prospects of
Konkani movies.
Does she have prospects of landing Kannada roles? She
would wait to get spotted after the success of the
current movie. She has bright hopes of getting regular
roles in Kannada serials. Some day she would like to
work under directors of the kind of Nagatihalli
Chandrashekhar or S Narayan. She nurses an ambition
also to act with Vishnuvardhan, Bharati and such great
performers. Although she said she would not like to
shape herself like great actressses, nevertheless,
with great respect to them, she would like to play
the kind of roles played by actresses like Bharati or
Jayanti in Kannada. Incidentally, among her favourites
in Bollywood are Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla.
Arona considers her future as bright. People will spot
her talent and appreciate and support her, she beams
confidently.
What is her message to other aspirants to filmdom?
She says as long as anyone keeps one's feet firmly on
the ground, there is nothing to fear. 'It all depends
on how we conduct ourselves,' she asserts. She wants
other girls to come forward too, leaving aside fears
of any stigma and make a name for themselves.
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