Goan Catholics - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

Goan Catholics have been a part of many Bollywood (Hindi cinema) films owing to their musical skills. They are seen in many films playing Goan Catholic families and speak Hindi with a Goan accent.

• In 1977, Amitabh Bachchan portrayed an orphan child (Anthony Gonzalves) adopted by a Goan Catholic priest in the Bollywood film Amar Akbar Anthony. My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves, a song from the film featuring Kishore Kumar, became a hit. The character was based on Anthony Gonsalves, a Goan Catholic musical composer and teacher from the village of Majorda (near Margao in Goa) who, during the mid-1950s, attempted to merge the symphonies of the Goan Catholic heritage with the Hindustani melodies and rhythms in films of the day.
• Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Khamoshi: The Musical (1996) centred on the tragedy of a Goan Catholic family of deaf-and-mute parents with a normal daughter who falls in love with a Hindu boy.
• Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1988): Johnny (Mithun Chakraborty), a Goan Catholic, loves Julie (Mandakini), who is also a Goan Catholic.
• Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994): Sunil (Shahrukh Khan) falls in love with Anna (Suchitra Krishnamoorthy), a Goan Catholic girl from Goa.
• Josh (2000): Set against the backdrop of Goa and Goan Catholic culture, Josh is a story about energy, youth, love, and the zest for life. Max (ShahRukh Khan), a cool Goan Catholic dada (gangster), is the leader of the Eagle gang, which is constantly up in arms with the new inhabitants of the town of Vasco, Prakash (Sharad Kapoor), and his gang. The two gangs revel in this enmity and love to show off their strength to each other. Max's twin sister is Shirley (Aishwarya Rai), who is also a Goan Catholic.
• My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves (film) (2008): Many characters in this movie are of Goan Catholic lineage; there is the hero himself (Anthony), an orphan taken in by mobster Sikander (Malhotra), and Anthony's friend Mike, a petty thief.
• In the film Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007), Boman Irani plays Oscar Fernandez, a Goan Catholic. He and his wife Naheed (Shabana Azmi) have recently married. They are middle-aged and the target of constant mocking from everyone. They intend to have a great journey and not be bothered by their difficult pasts. This is their second marriage.
• In the film Golmaal Returns (2008), Gopal (Ajay Devgan) ends up getting stuck on a yacht after saving a woman named Meera (Celina Jaitley) from some gangsters. When he returns home his wife Ekta (Kareena Kapoor) begins to suspect him. He lies and says that he was stuck with a fictitious friend, "Anthony Gonsalves". Trouble comes when the actual Anthony Gonsalves (Vrajesh Hirjee) and his wife Julie (Rakhi Tandon), a Goan Catholic couple, turn up.
• In the movie King Uncle (1993), Ashok Bansal's (Jackie Shroff) girlfriend and secretary Fenni (Anu Agarwal) is of Goan Catholic origin.
• In the movie Rock On!! (2008), Arjun Rampal plays Joseph Mascarenhas, lead guitarist for the band 'Magick', who is of Goan Catholic origin.
• In the movie Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009), Jenny (Katrina Kaif) and her family is of Goan Catholic origin.