In which we trace one family's contribution to a particular field

The da Cunhas: Masters of the media

TIMES OF INDIA, 31 AUG 2003 (Page 2, Men & Women)

Photo: Clockwise l-r: Uma, Gerson, Sylvester, Nisha, Rahul and Radhika da
Cunha

THE DA CUNHA family has several firsts to its claim. The first book on the
history of Mumbai was written by historian Dr J Gerson da Cunha in 1900.
Titled 'The Origin of Bombay', it was published by the Bombay branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society. His brother, A M da Cunha, started Goa's first
newspaper (in Portuguese) named 'O Heraldo'.

Hailing from Goa and descendants of Saraswat Brahmins (they were forced to
convert to Catholicism in the 16th century by the Portuguese colonisers),
the present crop of da Cunhas has won many plaudits in the world of media.

Consider 74-year-old Gerson and his younger brother Sylvester da Cunha.
Both were frontrunners in the world of advertising and English theatre.

Gerson is as famous for his Dalda ad as for recruiting talents like Alyque
Padamsee and Shyam Benegal. Similarly, Sylvester's claim to fame includes
the immortal Amul campaign (that introduced the concept of consumer humour
or serious things spoken in jest), which is still done by his advertising
firm, da Cunha Communications, now under the able guidance of his only
child, 41-year-old Rahul.

Sylvester was with ASP Advertising when the Amul campaign first took off
and later when he set up his own firm, the client moved with him. He too
recruited talents like Bharat Dabholkar.

Even with theatre, who can forget Gerson in 'Othello' staged in 1956? Or
Sylvester for writing and directing plays, pioneering concepts like comedy
revue ('I Love Bombay, Topsy Turvy')?

Gerson has acted in films as well, which includes Pradeep Kishen's
'Electric Moon', Ismail Merchant-produced 'Cotton Mary' and Shah Rukh
Khan's 'Asoka'. His wife Uma, who takes a deep and abiding interest in the
promotion of Indian films abroad, particularly the less commercial types,
has helped such film personalities like Mira Nair for 'Kama Sutra', Deepa
Mehta for 'Earth' and Aamir Khan for 'Lagaan' in casting.

Rahul, Sylvester's son, and his 37-year-old wife Radhika, both dabble in
theatre as well. Radhika started her career in advertising as a
copywriter. She made her acting debut in 19833 with Naseeruddin Shah in
'The Imaginary Invalid' and most recently she can be seen in Rahul's
'Class of '84'.

Rahul confesses that he lives a double life! Advertising by day and
theatre by nigh. Since 1984, he has directed and produced 18 plays. His
'I'm Not Bajirao' has been the longest running English theatrical
production in India (having completed 175 shows over a span of eight
years).

His 1990 production of Gurucharan Das' 'Larins Sahib' was the first Indian
play to be performed at the prestigious Edinburgh Theatre festival in
Scotland.

His mother, Nisha, who lives and breathes women's empowerment, is also a
painter and author of four fiction books published by Penguin and
HarperCollins. Gerson has also just released a book of poems. And yes,
both da Cunha brothers are journalists and writers as well.

Do so many shared interests help in fostering filial relations? "Yes, of
course," says Gerson, as Rahul elaborates, "My passion for theatre is
really who I am and this passion has come from the family."

The fact that all of them are staying in one city also helps. As Gerson
says, "Distance does matter." -- SUDESHNA CHATTERJEE.
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read Goa's first Usenet newsgroup: http://soccultureindiangoa.shorturl.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------