With ‘Mog Ani Maipas’ Wishing Konkani Actor Ozzy Sequeira a Happy 75th B-day

With ‘Mog Ani Maipas’ Wishing Konkani Actor Ozzy Sequeira a Happy 75th B-day

With ‘Mog Ani Maipas’ (Love and affection) Mangalorean.com Wishes Konkani Actor Ozzy Sequeira a Happy 75th Birthday (on 5 March), and many Happy Returns of the Day.

Mangaluru: The year 1976-1977-The Place Kodiyal aka Kudla aka Mangaluru- The First Konkani Colour Movie “Mog Ani Maipas” was (Love & Affection) released in Mangaluru, Goa and other parts of the country. And the FIRST Male Lead actor in that FIRST Konkani happens to be Mangalorean born Oswald “Ozzie” John Sequeira- and tomorrow (5 March ) he turns 75- and Mangalorean.com/Team Mangalorean extends in advance tons of Best Birthday Wishes to Ozzie, who happens to be an ardent reader of Mangalorean.com- and even though currently he is based in Canada for the last decades, he always has his heart and love towards Mangaluru and Mangaloreans- and keeps updated on what’s happening in his hometown by browsing through Mangalorean.com daily. Before going further into the article, once again Hap..Hap..Hap..Happy Birthday to Ozzie!

Ozzie

One fine morning Mangalorean.com receives an email from Ozzie stating that “My name is Oswald [Ozzie] Sequeira. I am the “Male Lead Actor” of the first coloured Konkani Movie “MOG ANI MAIPAS” produced in 1976-77. I am residing in Canada currently. The movie is still popular all over the world where Mangaloreans are residing. I will be celebrating my 75th birthday [a mile stone] and I would want my fans to know about it. Could you, therefore, post my photo with a brief write in a prominent place in your portal”. “Why Not?”- and Team Mangalorean immediately replied back and here we are introducing to you the “FIRST Konkani Male Actor” of the “FIRST Konkani Colour Movie-Mog Ani Maipas”!

The Movie was written by (Late) Wilfy Rebimbus, a renowned Konkani Singer from Mangaluru, who had also composed the music for the film, and produced by Capt Merwyn Pinto and directed by N L R Sahyadri in the year 1976-77. “Mog ani Maipas” a celluloid film for the big screen, was released in Goa, Mangaluru and many other parts in 1977. The s was a story of the Movie was of two lovers- a poor girl and rich boy but here the villain was the boy’s rich mother who objects to her son’s choice. Good sense did prevail in the end but at a great cost. The Cast included-Ozzy Sequeira, Mick-Max, Lynn Fernandes, Diana Fernandes, Edward Quadros, Dr S J Monteiro, Nalin Kumar, John Pereira besides other actors.

 Ozzie seen with his Wife Lydia

Filmed in picturesque Mangalore, the best part of the presentation was the music and the beautiful songs, all great hits and enjoyed even today, with Music by Upendra Kumar, Madras (Now Chennai), and sentimental, Romantic and mind-blowing four songs like “Maria Maria” by Wilfy Rebimbus; “Ani Maka Na Kain Une”-by Wilfy Rebimbus and his Meena; “Mog Thuzo Kithlo Ashelo” by P.B. Srinivas; and “Happy Christmas” by Wilfy-Meena & Chorus. Even though “Mog Ani Maipas” was released in 1977, Konkani movie lovers can still watch it on YouTube- which will bring back memories of those golden years.

Oswald “Ozzie” Sequeira was born at Nanthoor in Mangaluru in the year 1943 and attended school at St. Aloysius Institutions-Mangaluru until Pre-University and then graduated as an Electrical Engineer. During his schooling days, he had great passion towards Sports; and also stage acting and singing, which led him to participate in stage dramas in school and outside as well. By the time he proceeded to Mumbai Ozzie was well versed in the fine art field. In Mumbai, while working for a reputed company, a couple of Konkani drama producers approached him and he found many opportunities to pursue his passion.

Going a step further Ozzie’s well-wishers encouraged him to get into commercial modelling and into Hindi films. His efforts paid dividends, thereby getting opportunities to model for many products, one of them being a short 15 minutes film in Hindi for National Bank of Punjab. Since the opportunities were limited he decided to take up a job offer as an Electrical Engineer in a sugar factory in Kenya-Africa. After working there for many years he had to give up his post to a local Kenyan, since the government there started implementing the localization scheme, offering jobs for local Kenyans.

 Seen with Sons- Kevin (L) and Steve

Having no other choice, Ozzie returned to Mangalur in 1976, during which time Wilfy Rebimbus, a childhood friend of his asked him to meet with him and during their meeting, Wilfy offered Ozzie the Male Lead in “Mog Ani Maipas”, as he was well aware of Ozzie’s acting capability. A few months after the release of the Movie, Ozzie moved to Abu Dhabi and worked there for 25 Years and during his stay there kept himself active and participated in many Konkani dramas and cultural shows. “Among the dramas “Maldhisav” was most successful”, says Ozzie.

Ozzie then immigrated to Toronto-Canada in 1996 with his family. After working for 2 years there, unfortunately, he was diagnosed with multiple blocks in his heart and after a week he was also diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and so he had to retire since he had to go into surgery for the heart and radiation treatment for cancer. Ozzie says that by God’s grace 20 years on, he is still doing very well health-wise so far, and active in many social and cultural events.

However, Ozzie kept himself active by writing Konkani skits, short stories for stage shows [during “Monthi Festh”], acting, directing, grooming new talents for the Konkani cultural shows held in Toronto. As recognition for his lifelong work to uphold Konkani language and culture he was bestowed with the “Life Long Achievement Award” by the Konkani Community of Canada. In between Ozzie authored a book “The Alpha and Omega”- a book based on religion – how all the religions of the world-Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and others are connected to each other and how with this knowledge all people could live in harmony instead of disparity. “It took me 5 years of research and to study various Sacred Books before embarking on this project. The book did quite well, though not as well as expected, but, those who read it appreciated it” adds Ozzie.

 Ozzie’s Son Steve with his wife and kids

“The Alpha and Omega: Whence From to Whither To,” a book that encourages readers to seek the truth from many religions. Ozzie had made an honest attempt to understand the secret of life, its purpose, and its final destination by referring to quotes from the Bible and other religious scriptures. Although the ideas presented in the book are not original, his work is unique because he presents all the information as a single theory and in a single book. Ozzie Sequeira is a widely travelled person with a penchant for reading. He began reading sacred books and history books, as a result of which he could write a book of his own, illustrating the relationship between the major faiths of the world, the relationship between history and the Bible, the connection between the Old and the New Testaments, and the accuracy of the prophecies in the Bible.

One of the unique features of his book is his explanation of the Book of Revelation and its various symbolizations. His book has something to do with what he has experienced in his life. It was the power of the two miraculous healing he underwent that led him to go in search of the truth of life. His recovery from an accident that incapacitated one of his legs at the age of 43 and his total recovery from advanced cancer further worsened by the 4 major blocks in an already damaged heart due to a silent heart attack he had suffered twelve years ago bolstered him to go in the pursuit of quest of truth of life. This quest led him to read sacred books of all religions and also the history books that resulted in a rewarding experience in the form of this book- “The Alpha and Omega”.

Currently, Ozzie has taken a short sabbatical from all active activities except his own. Married to Lydia Sequeira, whom he met in Mumbai, they both have acted in several dramas together before getting married in 1978 and still participate in all cultural activities together. Lydia has been a great support and inspiration in all Ozzies endeavours all along, and she is still working for a much reputed organization-The Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto-Canada. Their oldest son Steve Sequeira is also working for ‘The Toronto Transit Commission’ and is happily married to a Canadian, her name is Denise who works for the Royal Bank of Canada. They have two sons -Liam who is 6 years old and Mason, 4 years old, where both are attending school.

Their second son Kevin Sequeira is a Registered Nurse working for the Children’s hospital – the world-renowned “Toronto Sick Kids Hospital” in the Cardiac ICU department. This year the hospital bestowed on him the prestigious “Daisy Award” for his excellent work. Kevin is doing a yeomen service, where he travels to poor countries all over the world as a nurse on mission work- and he has received high praises for his good community service work.

When asked if Ozzie had seen any new Konkani movies released recently, he replied, “I tried to watch them on YouTube but failed, but I am told that the technical and other aspects of the film are good. Describing is motto in life, Ozzie says, “I am a very versatile individual and am ready to take on any challenge that comes my way. Always eager to learn and help others in every way I can. I have dedicated many years of my life in gaining and retaining valuable knowledge on anything and everything to do with the plumbing finishing side of construction. I would call myself a team player if not a team leader. I am very easy to get along with and highly approachable. Challenging myself to better myself has always been a part of my personal training process. I know the opportunities are endless within this field and many more.”

Ozzie’s message to the present Konkani youth is, “I believe that Konkani, Tulu and Kannada film industry is here to stay and one can venture into making it into a carrier. However, even though it is new, it is a dog eat dog situation and only the toughest and the smartest can hope to survive. Although I have not seen any new movies, I can very well imagine that the quality of the final product will be much better than what used to be 40 years ago. For example, when “Mog Ani Maipas” was filmed, it was during ‘Emergency Rule” imposed by the then PM Indira Gandhi’, and therefore fighting scenes [currently a fad] were not allowed, so we had to show a fan turning vigorously and dub the scene with a fighting noise soundtrack. Sounds funny, but true”.

Before concluding, Ozzie Sequeira in his words of wisdom says, “I have been away from Mangaluru most of my life, but this absence however has made me realize that Mangaluru is a great place and I am very proud to be a Mangalorean and the popular song “Yo Moga Yo Moga Manglora” which is filmed in the Movie motivates me to visit my homeland at every opportunity I could get. I love my hometown, I love my hometown people- and if I get a chance I would like to interact with everyone whom I knew during those days. I miss Kodiyal very much, but I always keep myself informed about what’s happening in Mangaluru by browsing through Mangalorean.com- a great portal to ‘Know Much and ‘Stay in Touch’ with Mangaluru. Thank You Team Mangalorean immensely for showing interest to do a write up on me on Mangalorean.com on my birthday, and keep up the good work that you are all entrusted with, and may God bless you all”

While a big Platinum Birthday bash is planned for the “Big Birthday Boy Ozzie” on reaching his “Youthful” 75 years, where his wife Lydia, along with his sons Steve and Kevin, Daughter-in-laws Denise and grand-kids Liam and Mason singing and wishing him Hap..Hap…Hap..Happy Birthday, we too at Mangalorean.com would once again like to extend our best wishes by singing the “Happy Birthday” song. Ozzie may you live for another 25 years, and become the Centurion Birthday Boy! Bet You Will…

Watch the Video of two songs from the ‘Mog Ani Maipas’ movie: “Maria Maria”; “Mog Tuzo Kithlo Ashelom” and “Ani Maka Na Kain”.