‘Sophiya’ premier: Two shows witnessed at Hyatt Regency, Dubai

Dubai: The super hit Konkani movie ‘Sophiya’, produced under the banner Janet Noronha Productions and distributed by Sandhya Creations, witnessed 2 houseful shows yesterday at the biggest screen – Galleria Cinemas – in Hyatt Regency, Dubai. With the full house shows and the tickets being sold out much ahead of the screening, many fans had to return home without having viewed the movie.

Organizers personally apologized and assured additional shows. They also said that the dates would be fixed and published soon.

Two more shows in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah have already been booked and more than 70% of the tickets have either been confirmed. Two more shows are being planned in Mussafah and Al Ain and will be announced shortly.

‘Sophiya’ fans assembled outside in large numbers near the theater much ahead of opening time and were eagerly waiting for the show to begin. Soon, they saw Actress Esther Noronha & Producer Janet Noronha arriving in a Rolls Royce Classic car while the photographers and the videographers were capturing the moment of their arrival. They were escorted into the premises where the guests were waiting.

An inauguration was held with the cutting of the red ribbon at the entrance of the theatre. The ribbon was cut by well-known philanthropist and guest for the occasion Ronald Colaco & Rev. Fr. Robert Lasrado of St. Mary’s Church Dubai, while all the other guests cheered and entered the main hall of the Cinema.

Shodhan Prasad of Sandhya Creations, the distributor of the film, welcomed the guests and audience and thanked them for their whole hearted support in making ‘Sophiya’ a hit with houseful shows in Dubai. He then briefed the gathering about the film which was directed by Bollywood & Bhojpuri Ace Director Harry Fernandes and announced that ‘Sophiya’ ran successfully for 50 days in Mangaluru and was also screened successfully in Israel, London & parts of Mumbai.

He then invited the guests to do the proceedings of the premier release and welcomed them to the front of the screen. The guests included Rev. Fr. Robert Lasrado of St. Mary’s Church, Dubai, Ref. Fr. Maxim Cardoza from Jebel Ali Church, philanthropist, NRI Businessman and Rajyotswava Awardee, Ronald Colaco, Businessman Ronald Pinto (Sponsor), Lawrence Paul, Valerian Pereira, Ivan Fernandes, Michael D’Souza, Raju Francis Fernandes (whose representative presented a beautiful portrait of Esther Noronha), Frank Fernandes, President Tulu Nadochaya, and Doctorate Honored, Producer & Businessman, Santosh Pereira.

Lily and Roystan Balkunje, actors in the movie Sophiya, were honoured for being part of the celebration.

Prasad then introduced the multi-talented & multi-lingual actress Esther Noronha, who has created a good name in Tulu, Konkani, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi Films industries. Later, he introduced the first ever female Producer of a Konkani Movie Janet Noronha, who put all her efforts in making ‘Sophiya’ a super hit production for the Konkani Community.

Fr. Robert, Fr. Maxim and all the guests inaugurated the premier show by lighting the traditional lamp followed by a prayer by Fr. Robert and Fr. Maxim who blessed the occasion.

On behalf of all the guests, Ronald Colaco spoke and in detail explained to the audience the difficulties involved in film production, presentation and distribution in all levels and that people need to understand that there are a lot of pains involved in this process. He also stressed that the Konkani community should come forward and support those people whole take initiatives in promoting the Konkani language and culture, so that more and more people in the community come forward and take up this risk for the sake of saving the community’s existence.

Actress Esther Noronha spoke on behalf of Janet Noronha and thanked all her fans and the audience for making ‘Sophiya’ a super hit Konkani Film.

The second show at 4.30 pm was exclusively sponsored by Martin Aranha of Globelink West Star Shipping Company, whose entire staff flocked to the theatre much ahead of the show. The entire theatre was filled with Globelink West Star Shipping Staff and their families. Shodhan Prasad, just before the screening, thanked Managing Director Martin Aranha for supporting the event and also thanked Senior Staff Sandra and Lavina Fernandes for taking the responsibility of distributing the invitations.

Sonu Bantwal, Sameer Bolar, Ajay Nayak and others volunteered during the entire programme.