Joy Fernandes - Profile11, Akashkiran, Azad Road, Vile Parle, (East), Mumbai – 400057.

Landline – 02226132244 / Cell – 9821166940 / email – joyferns@yahoo.com

Birth date – 16th June 1970. Male. Married with one daughter

Academics – BSc (Chemistry), MA (English Literature)

Professional Experience – I have worked on stage, in films, on TV, in advertisements, written a book, conducted workshops, conceived, designed & directed events, have written ad copy, done voice work, written scripts, compered events and more.

I have been blessed with more than 20 years of stage experience. Both nationally and internationally.

Just completed a well-received tour of Australia (Perth) and Singapore in October-November2013, where I played the principal character of Shantilal Merchant in the hugely popular play ‘Merchants of Bollywood’ directed by Toby Gough and choreographed by Shruti Merchant.

Completed a successful 17 city tour of China in Dec 2012-Feb2013 of the same play and will soon leave for a four week tour of the play in London and Berlin in Jan & Feb 2014.

Another recent international assignment was playing the lead character of Nick Bottom in Shakespeare’s famous comedy ‘A midsummer night’s dream’. The play was directed by Tim Supple and we travelled successfully to perform over 250 shows (spanning more than 2 years) in UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Verona and India.

Some Salient Reviews –

‘...And there is a magical moment in the play when the dying Pyramus announces ‘my soul is in the sky’...it is appropriate that the line is spoken by Joy Fernandes’ Bottom, since his performance epitomises the virtues of this production. Fernandes has weight, dignity and the total dedication of the artisan turned actor...’ – Micheal Billington, The Guardian, UK.

‘...Joy Fernandes must be a wonderful comedian in his country: It was impossible to hold back peals of laughter coming from the audience with his ‘Bottom’...’ – Roberta Alves, Australian Stage

‘Ultimately, however, Joy Fernandes steals the show with his infectiously joyful, naive enthusiasm as the most robust, rotund and ribald Bottom ever seen’ – Patrick McDonald, Adelaide Now.

‘The acting is physically and emotionally strong. Joy Fernandes, for instance, delivers a particularly memorable turn as the hilariously, irrepressible Bottom’ – Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian, USA.

In India, I have produced, written, directed and acted in plays like ‘Clowns@Play’, ‘Takadoom Takadish’, ‘Chotu Speaking’, ‘Full of Joy’ and ‘Chotu’. I have also designed, acted in and directed several comedy sketches that have been performed at corporate and club events.

Have directed and acted in plays like ‘Dressing Room’. Have directed plays like ‘Legacy of Rage’ by Cyrus Mistry for the Bandra festival and ‘Norway Today’ by Igor Baursema in collaboration with Max Mueller Bhavan.

Have acted and workshopped with theatre professionals like Naseerudin Shah (Androcles and the Lion), Rajat Kapoor (C for Clown), Vikram Kapadia (Romeo and Juliet), Atul Kumar (The Blue Mug), R. Ramanathan (The Boy who Stopped Smiling), Toni Patel (Merchant of Venice), Salim Ghouse (Hamlet) and others. Recently acted in the revival of Satyadev Dubey’s ‘The Magic Pill’ directed by Hidayat Sami.

Have acted in ‘Main Bhi Superman’ the first Hindi play in Grips format for children and the Hindi version of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ directed by Bhupendra Deshmukh

Have workshopped with theatre professionals like the esteemed diction exponent Dame Cicely Barry from the UK, Catherine Dubois (from France for movement), several physical and voice experts from around the world. In India, have workshopped with Irshad Panjatan (leading mime exponent), D. Padmakumar (contemporary dance choreographer and kalaripayattu exponent) and many other experts.

Have conducted workshops for all age groups and personality profiles. From a Shakespeare workshop for 4 to 6 year olds in Stratford, UK, to high energy workshops for Pogo (kids aged 5 to 12) in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore (during the launch of MAD), to Drama & personality skills development workshops for film/TV aspirants & college students, to drama workshops for schools, to parent-child workshops for Prithvi theatre, to issue-based skits directed for BMC school children, to a workshop on leadership and motivation for the CEOs of the international branches of Connect Chemicals, roleplayer sessions for KPMG, to corporate workshops for companies like HP, Tech Pacific (now Ingram Micro), Brother (India) etc. with the focus on motivation, teamwork, time-management, etc. Have conceived, designed and directed a musical –Shooting Stars for the 50th jubilee celebrations of St.

Joseph’s Convent High School. Have conceived and directed a play enacted by the parents for the children of Besant Montessori school, Juhu. Scripted for Magicskool, a magic-based children’s show for Pogo.

Have workshopped with professionals from the MAPP Consortium, a UK based organisation that offers theatre exercise based workshop solutions for corporate houses. MAPP has professionals from all over the world who share their experiences and expertise that help in planning and executing workshop solutions for specific target profiles and corporate segments.

Have co-authored a book ‘My A to Z book of stories, poems and plays’ with Nilufer Fernandes, published by Pauline Publications. The book is a read aloud or read alone book for children from the age of 6 onwards and its focus is to entertain, educate and empower.

Have acted in feature films (Dasvidanya, Jajantaram Mamantaram(won the Brittania Little Choice Award for best villain and rave reviews for the role of the giant Jhamunda), Paanch, Agyaat, No Smoking, One two ka Four, Pagalpan, Aakrosh, etc.), several television serials and advertisements.

Presently writing plays, screenplay for feature films and books for children. Have written ad copy (print and radio), screenplay (TV), articles and web content. Have anchored live events, most recent was the family day celebrations of Thirdware Global Solutions. Recently conducted The Summa Drama series of children’s workshops for Smart Potato. Recently acted in and trained the young cast of the film ‘Luv U Soniyo’. Currently writing screenplay & dialogues for feature films including one for Wideframe pictures (Mr. Kumar Mangat). Currently conceived, written and now producing, directing and acting in Clowns@Play, a clown-based children’s play that deals with social and societal issues through humour, drama, dance and music. The play premiered in May 2013 to great response and full houses.

USP - Fat to Fit

In August, 2008, I was over 137 kilograms in weight. While the positive was that at the time I was still performing a very physical play, 8 shows a week, 10 weeks on the trot – the negative was that my overall health wasn’t at its best. I am now around 90 kilograms in weight, having lost 45 kilograms in the one year (august 2008 to august 2009). Almost four years later, the lost weight is still off, my health is great and my fitness level very high.

In recent times when required, I use my weight-loss and my methodical physical transformation as motivational tools when conducting my workshops. Especially since the Fitness and Wellness quotient is vital in today’s exacting times.