Rom Tony
Real Name: Antonio Romao Rebello
Stage Name: Rom Tony
Date of Birth: 28h Feb., 1929
Died: 05th April 2005
Rom Tony’ was born on 28th February 1929 at Vasco da Gama
and lived his entire life in this port Town. He was employed with the Mormugao
Port Trust, and served the organisation till his retirement. At the age
of 18, Antonio Romao Rebello made his debut on the Konkani stage in an amateur
production ‘Maim Ti Maim’. It was here that he was spotted by the then
Writer-Director Nelson Afonso who later introduced him to the
professional stage.
Young Antonio later took the stage name ‘Rom Tony’ and
with his natural composing talent went on to carve a niche for himself on the
stage. A die hard patriot, Rom Tony once composed and sang a song
praising the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and was instantly
arrested by the Portuguese government. But his other colleagues and fans
encouraged him to go ahead and not to get disheartened. Rom Tony composed all
the 21 songs in one tiatr during his early days. As a professional artist he
has been part of the troupe of several well-known directors like M. Boyer, J.P.
Souzalin, Prem Kumar, C. Alvares and others.
During his 42 odd years on the Konkani stage, Rom Tony
staged several tiatrs of his own like; ‘Goenchem Eliesanv, Dotor, Uxttem, Raj
Goribanchem, Dev Dita, Paicher Fest Poddlam, Piso Pulis Inspector, Nimnni
Chitt, and Mhozo Put. These shows were staged in Goa and Mumbai. He was
once arrested during the Bandodkar regime in Goa for the controversial and
hard-hitting script of ‘Goenchem Eleisanv’. Together with Nelson Afonso
and Conception, Rom Tony was responsible for the formation of ‘Young Stars of
Goa’, which was one of the strongest contingents of Goan tiatrists. He
formed the famed trio of Rom-Rem-Rod and after ruling the stage for many years
one of its members ‘Remmie’ moved to the Gulf. Rom Tony did not give up the
trio but substituted the male singer Remmie with a female artist ‘Josephine’
and continued for some more years.
As a composer of high calibre it was obvious that he
should produce his own audio albums. When the trend of producing Konkani albums
was just setting in, Rom Tony produced two audio albums ‘Kud’di Bhoinn’
and ‘Kumarak Faxi’. Both his albums were well received. Rom Tony was
honoured by the Government of Goa for his contribution to the Konkani dramas in
the year 1999 and was presented a State Award. In January 2005,
Rom Tony was felicitated and presented a memento by Comedian Dominic Coelho
during his drama ‘Uzvaddant Kallok’at Gomant Vidya Niketan Margao.
Due to failing health Rom Tony gave up the professional
stage way back in 1988, and his last public appearance on stage was for a
special programme at Christmas time at the St. Andrew’s Parish Vasco, in 1997,
where he composed and sang a special song. He however continued composing
songs till his very end and the songs he composed were rendered on stage by his
two daughters Felcy and Aplon. He passed away on 5th April 2005.
Source: Goanobserver 4th April 2005
Source: Goanobserver 4th April 2005
