-by gasper crasto www.goa-world.com
Gracy Morais, one of the stars of ‘BLACK Nhesop Atanchem Fashion’ has been in the limelight right from the age of 4 years. A Kala Academy Award Winner for Best Child Artiste and Best Actress, Gracy has gained fame over the years in variety of roles including award winning ones at various stage competitions in Goa and Kuwait.
In an interview to Gasper Crasto after the release of the movie, Gracy speaks about her role and her alluring presence in ‘BLACK’. The Konkani language E-Cinema released by Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Mr. Madhusudan Ganapathi earlier in August 2007 is now set for re-screening with English subtitles on November 30, 2007 at Al Masrah, Hawally Auditorium. The movie is written and directed by T-Bush – winner of 3 International Awards at the London Film Festival for his short film, ‘The Letter’.
Excerpts of the interview with Gracy:
Q. Describe those moments when you saw yourself on the big screen.
Gracy: It was the most defining moment of my life. In those fleeting moments, I felt my soul completely bared and I sat completely vulnerable, open for criticism or praise that would follow from the packed audience watching the film. I felt alone although I had my entire family watching it with me. Of course, I missed my dad and wished he was alive to watch this film with me.
Q. Comment on your role in ‘BLACK.’
Gracy: We had a fair outline of the characters we would be portraying. However, the depth and intensity of my character hit me only after watching the film. I am glad that that my role has been etched out adequately by T-Bush.
Q. Comment on the views/reviews from the media on your role or the film.
Gracy: We had excellent reviews from the audience, some of whom personally complimented us on the film.
I guess some people had vague expectations from the film. Sadly enough, and as in many cases, people used ‘BLACK’ to settle personal vendettas against the promoters and artistes of the film. Some comments emanated from a section of people who could not differentiate between a film and drama or home videos. I believe constructive criticism can definitely lead to improvement but criticism laced with jealousy, hatred and envy can be hardly effective in bringing about an intended change. One should realize that a film is different from a stage play.
Q. How do you usually choose your roles?
Gracy: I wish producers would offer us a choice of scripts. But directors have their mind set and the artistes have to prepare themselves to meet the role requirements. However, all directors I have worked with have shown full trust in me and always given me the flexibility to mould my character within its broad parameters even to the extent of rewriting some of the dialogues.
Q. You seem to be giving a perfect performance every time you act? How hard is your effort and commitment towards acting?
Gracy: I love acting and when I commit to something there is no looking back. It is very important to visualize the character, get into it, and the rest is easy. If you cannot shake off your original personality, then you better be away.
Q. Of late you have a long interval in acting after BLACK. Why?
Gracy: I have been involved in too many activities since coming to Kuwait. I would like to really slow down a bit now.
Q. What are your views on Indian film production abroad?
Gracy: Oh, I am so glad that people like T-Bush have become the trendsetters in the Middle East. More and more people come forward nowadays to experiment the entertainment business in this part of the world. For us artistes, it is a blessing in disguise - we do not have to sacrifice our art just because we are migrated to the Middle East for greener pastures.
Q. Tell us about your favorite artistes and films.
Gracy: The list keeps growing. It is an overwhelming experience to watch some of the Indian actors and actresses come up with amazing performances in every new movie.
Q. What are your other future aspirations?
Gracy: May be, I will get into production soon – I have almost completed a film script that took some time to research – I am happy with the final effort. If I can arrange the resources I will get into production and direct it myself, if not, I might just offer it to some creative director to make a film out of it.
:::The above article appeared in Kuwait's Arab Times:::