Biography

- Manohar Malgaonkar

In his earlier stint with the Times Group, Mario had created for two of its magazines, Filmfare and Femina, some amusing characters such as Rajani Nimbupani, a typical Bollywood heroine and her opposite number, the matinee-idol Balraj Balram, who were said to be prototypes of real actors. There was also his archetype street politician Bundledass, pompous, full of his own importance making thundering pronouncements and at times making a fool of himself too. It was obvious that these cartoon characters had made a strong impression on the readers of both magazines.

Now soon after he resumed work at the Times Group, the editor of one of the major newspapers of the chain, The Economic Times asked Mario to contribute a cartoon to his paper which would provide a lighter touch to the somewhat stuffy contents of a newspaper devoted to commerce and finance.

So he invented Miss Fonseca with bold good looks, efficient, gutsy and above all sexy.

“She just clicked,” Mario Miranda will tell you with a touch of pride.

At about this time, Mario Miranda brought out at his own expense, a booklet containing a collection of his Goa drawings to which he gave the name Goa with Love.