Lifetime Contribution to Konkani Cinema Award

What is the Lifetime Contribution to Konkani Cinema Award?

Lifetime Contribution to Konkani Cinema Award is scheme number 35 of the 41 schemes run by the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG), the autonomous body of the Government of Goa under the Department of Art and Culture. TAG states the reason for the scheme in its opening line: there are artistes, including tiatr artistes, who have gone into films and have contributed immensely to the development of Konkani cinema in the past, and this scheme was devised to recognise that contribution.

Konkani cinema is small, intermittent and heavily overlapped with the tiatr stage. Many of the people who built it came out of Konkani theatre, worked in film for a stretch, and returned. A conventional film-industry award structure would miss them entirely, which is why TAG, a tiatr body: carries the Konkani cinema lifetime award in its own scheme list.

The date is the heart of the scheme. The award is presented at a special function on 24 April every year, marking the anniversary of the release of Mogacho Anvddo, the first Konkani film, made by the late Al-Jerry Braganza, whom the scheme document names as "The Father of Konkani Cinema".

One important caveat for readers: the scheme 35 document published on the TAG website carries a note at the top reading "New rules to be framed". The rules described on this page are those currently published, but confirm the position with the TAG office before preparing a nomination, because the Academy has flagged that this particular scheme is due for revision.

What does the award consist of?

Under rule 5, the Lifetime Contribution to Konkani Cinema Award consists of:

• a shawl
• a memento
• a citation
• a cash purse as fixed by TAG

TAG has not published the rupee value of the cash purse in its own scheme document. The rules simply say "a Cash purse as fixed by TAG". The national myScheme portal's entry for this award describes the cash purse as Rs 50,000. Because the two sources differ in precision, confirm the current figure with the TAG office rather than treating Rs 50,000 as fixed.

Rule 1 fixes the number: only one award will be conferred every year. That single-award rule makes this the most selective scheme in TAG's list — the companion khell/khell-tiatr lifetime award, by contrast, allows up to five awardees a year.

Who is eligible for the award, and who is not?

A nominee is eligible if:

• The artiste is not less than 60 years of age. Rule 1 allows this to be relaxed if the health of the artiste is not well.
• The artiste has given years of service to the cause of Konkani cinema.
• The artiste can be assessed against the criteria in rule 2, which asks:
• whether he or she was an excellent actor, script writer, director, playback singer, lyricist, producer or composer;
• whether he or she received any awards in the field;
• whether he or she did any innovation on the Konkani cinema front;
• if a singer or musician, whether any songs are recorded on vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, online or brought out in the form of videos;
• whether, besides Konkani cinema, he or she has acted, directed, sung, composed music or lyrics, designed sets, provided background music or designed light effects for films in other languages;
• if a script writer or lyricist, whether he or she has published any books of scripts or lyrics.

A nominee is not eligible if:

• The artiste is under 60 and in good health, so the relaxation does not apply.
• The artiste has already received a TAG lifetime contribution award in tiatr (commercial or non-commercial), khell, khell-tiatr or Konkani cinema. Rule 6 makes the honour once-in-a-lifetime across all four streams.
• The artiste cannot be present in person at the 24 April function. Rule 5 requires personal attendance.
• Another artiste has been selected for that year. With only one award a year, a strong nomination may simply have to wait for the next cycle.

Note that individual artistes are not expected to apply for themselves. Rule 3 routes selection through recommendation from individuals and institutions and through advertisements in local newspapers, and adds that the Executive Board may also select the deserving artiste from outside the recommended list.

How to apply for or nominate someone for this award

1. Watch for the advertisement. TAG invites names through advertisements in the local newspapers ahead of the 24 April function.
2. Confirm the current format with the TAG office. The scheme document carries a note that new rules are to be framed for scheme 35, so telephone 0832-2230738 or email tiatracademy@gmail.com to ask whether a prescribed recommendation form now exists and what it requires.
3. Prepare the nominee's profile. Set out the artiste's name, stage name, date of birth and age, address, contact number and email.
4. Document the Konkani cinema record in detail. List the films, the roles held, actor, script writer, director, playback singer, lyricist, producer or composer, and the years. This is the material the Executive Board weighs under rule 2.
5. Add the supporting evidence. Awards already received, innovations introduced, recordings on vinyl, CD, DVD or online, work in films in other languages, and published books of scripts or lyrics all map directly onto the sub-clauses of rule 2.
6. Attach proof of age, since rule 1 sets the 60-year threshold.
7. Submit the recommendation to the Tiatr Academy of Goa, AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001, well before the function date.
8. Confirm the artiste can attend. Rule 5 makes personal presence a condition of receiving the award, so establish this before nominating.

How is the selection made?

Rule 3 gives three routes into the pool: recommendations from individuals, recommendations from institutions, and TAG's own newspaper advertisements. The Executive Board of TAG then applies the criteria in rule 2 and selects the single awardee, and it may go outside the recommended list to do so.

Because only one award is given a year, the practical value of a nomination lies in its completeness. A recommendation that simply asserts a long career gives the Board nothing to weigh against the seven sub-criteria in rule 2. A recommendation that lists films, years, roles, recordings, published books and prior awards does.

What are the common reasons a nomination does not succeed?

• The nominee is under 60 and the health relaxation does not apply.
• A thin record. The Konkani cinema filmography is the core of the assessment.
• No proof of age with the nomination.
• The nominee has already received a TAG lifetime award in tiatr, khell, khell-tiatr or Konkani cinema, rule 6 bars a second one permanently.
• The nominee cannot attend on 24 April. Personal presence is compulsory.
• Only one award a year. A deserving nomination that loses out is not disqualified; it can be put forward again in the following cycle.
• Working from an outdated rules document. TAG has flagged that new rules are to be framed for this scheme, and rule 7 reserves TAG's right to make any changes in the rules.

Where do I raise a grievance about this award?

Contact the Tiatr Academy of Goa on 0832-2230738 (fax 0832-2230739) or by email at tiatracademy@gmail.com. The office is at AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001.

Under the Right to Information Act, the Member Secretary of TAG is the Public Information Officer and the President of TAG is the First Appellate Authority, so a written RTI application about a pending nomination or an unpaid cash purse goes first to the Member Secretary at that address. Selection is a decision of the Executive Board under rule 3, so a grievance should be confined to process rather than to the choice of awardee.

Key facts to remember

• Lifetime Contribution to Konkani Cinema Award is scheme 35 of 41 run by the Tiatr Academy of Goa.
• Only one award is conferred each year.
• The award is a shawl, a memento, a citation and a cash purse fixed by TAG.
• The awardee must be 60 or above, relaxable only on grounds of ill health.
• It is presented on 24 April, the anniversary of the release of Mogacho Anvddo by Al-Jerry Braganza.
• The awardee must be present in person to receive it.
• Names reach TAG by recommendation from individuals and institutions, or through newspaper advertisements.
• A TAG lifetime award can be received only once across tiatr, khell, khell-tiatr and Konkani cinema.
• TAG's scheme 35 document notes that new rules are to be framed, so confirm the current position before nominating.

How to check your application status

There is no online portal, login or tracking number for this award, so status can only be confirmed directly with the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG).

1. Call the TAG office on 0832-2230738 and quote the nominee's name, the year the recommendation was submitted and who sent it (individual or institution). The office can tell you whether the recommendation reached the Executive Board's records for that year's cycle.
2. Write to the Academy by email at tiatracademy@gmail.com if a phone call is not convenient, or if you want the confirmation in writing. Mention the same details: nominee's name, submission date and the name of the recommending person or institution.
3. Visit or write to the office at AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001, if the phone and email route does not get a response, since a written follow-up at the office can be logged and tracked internally.
4. Ask specifically which of three things has happened: the recommendation is still with the Executive Board for consideration, the Board has already picked a different awardee for that year, or the nominee has been shortlisted for the 24 April function. TAG selects only one awardee a year, so a "not selected" answer for one year does not mean the nomination is rejected outright, it can be carried forward or resubmitted for a later year.
5. Confirm attendance requirements early if the nominee is informed of selection, since rule 5 makes personal presence at the 24 April function a condition of receiving the award, and TAG will need this confirmed well before the date.
6. Keep a copy of the original recommendation letter and its date of submission. Because there is no acknowledgement receipt or reference number issued for recommendations under this scheme, your own copy is the only proof that a nomination was made, and it is what the office will ask for when you call to check.

Because the scheme document itself notes that new rules are to be framed for this award, it is worth asking during the same call or visit whether the recommendation process has changed since the nomination was submitted.