IN PHOTOS: How these Mumbai Catholic content creators are uniquely depicting the community's mannerisms

With Mumbai's large Catholic population, some Mumbaikars are showcasing the communities unique mannerisms through a variety of typical characters like Aunty Matilda, Pascoal Pinto, Russell and Uncle D'souza to showcase the uniqueness of the community

Updated On: 2023-10-25 10:15 AM IST

Compiled by : Nascimento Pinto

Ashville Simoens, Walter D'souza, Erika Packard and Leons Joseph take on different personas to different people from Mumbai's Catholic community. Photo Courtesy: Special Arrangement

At a time when people couldn't go to church due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Leons Joseph said he got some kind of feeling that people were missing those feasts and relatable experiences, which they would otherwise have gone to. So, Joseph decided to make content on Instagram that could help people feel closer to the experience and Uncle D'Souza came to life as your typical neighbourhood uncle. Through the character, he has spoken about different aspects of the Bombay Catholic community that are often known to non-Catholics, and at the same time taken take Catholic culture and social awareness to highlight issues such as domestic violence, which was reportedly on the rise during the pandemic.

Talking not only in English but also Goan and Mangalorean Konkani, Joseph says he doesn't want to be in the cotent creation business but only make content when he feels it is relatable. Over the last three years, he has also created another character 'Denzil', who a youth who misses church and just lies about everything. It is to strike a clear relatable balance between not sounding like a religious fanatic but making a conscious effort to get everybody under the same umbrella.

Walter D’souza, who came to Mumbai 15 years ago, hails from Kankavli in Maharashtra, has been doing theatre from his school days. Since the 30-year-old liked watching Marathi cinema, he was inspired by Ashok Saraf’s character of Professor Dhond in Gupchup Gupchup (1983) to make a reel in Hindi of his dialogues. Incidentally, it was a reel about the Bollywood stereotype of a drunk Catholic man that became popular, as many people related to it.

In the process, D'souza created the character 'Pascoal Pinto' to practice his acting skills during the Covid-19 pandemic, but after its popularity, has continued it ever since. More recently, he has even created a character called 'Rita Nurse', who he reveals will have a love story with Pascoal Pinto. 

Erika Packard has always loved to observe people and their mannerisms and that is how she created Bandra boy 'Russell', who reminds her of all the boys she knew while growing up and in college. Using a filter on Instagram, she showcases the Catholic community through him with his long hair and oversized T-shirts. Using words like Waroda Road, Dada’s house, Sorpotel, chatti (vessel used to serve curries), she has depicted his life in different ways and even created two friends - Nigel and Clyde, that everybody loves.

Like Joseph, D'souza and Packard, even Ashville Simoens, another Mumbaikar from the Catholic community, has created a character 'Aunty Matilda', inspired by his grandmother and her mannerisms to depict Mumbai's Catholic community. He also has another series called ‘Who is your English teacher?’, inspired by Catholic aunties who teach children how to pronounce words in English.

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