A passion to narrate

Dr. Lester James Peries, the man who is responsible in turning the tide of our cinema towards a more home made product, celebrated his 87th birthday yesterday. Looking at it more perspectively, one could say that along with the film maker, the more meaningful cinema that he has created for us is celebrating too.

Prasad Abu Bakr

CINEMA: If he did not become a film maker what would have been of Lester James Peries? But the question can sound more fatal if I ask: If he did not became a film maker what would have become of us? His style of film making has remained classic because nobody since him has been able to grasp total cohesion of the product they are dabbling with.

All and sundry movies are being made today, they are touring and winning some award or the other at some film festival or another but in the end of the day, how many of them have left a lasting impression on the home audience? is a question even those film makers who are responsible for boasting about their 'festival award' winning product will not be able to answer.

Today we find that most films are initially made with an idea of winning an award at an international film festival, so the approach becomes rather naive; making the film maker concentrate more on impressing an international festival jury rather than creating something to satisfy himself, leave alone delivering to his audience.

Lester James Peries however has remained an academy to most of our film makers that has evolved since his 'Rekawa'. Some got fascinated by his style and others by his subject matter. His technical wizardry which triumphed overall in his creations is what served the sinhala cinema in a big way for the past 56 years. Since the day he started to change the tide of local cinema towards a better direction.

The most impressive part in the man's career as a film maker lies in his ability to narrate his movies with a passion to the point of making them. look like a series of unbridled poems linked together in total unison. This is no easy task, to balance between artistic pluralism and technical superiority needs a film maker not only to have the support of his cast and technicians but also of his own inner sense of knowledge of what he is all about.

The fascinating experience of sitting through his films is the undisturbed style of narration and the continuous rapport that each image that appears on the screen has with the other. The manner in which he embodies a total different character not only into the appearance of the actor he has chosen to portray it but the ability to make the player lose within that whoever he or she is playing is the magical task that only Lester James Peries knows how.

Vijaya Kumaratunga in 'Beddegama' is a fine example and Anula Karunatileke in 'Ransalu' are amongst the many fine casting exercises we have seen in LJP's films.

Watching some movies which are made today one would not reject them in toto nor say that most of them are by-products of the great master. But as it was observed by Tissa Abeysekara at the launch of the book written on the life and work of Lester James Peries titled simply 'LJP' by A.J. Gunawardena, "The shadow of Peries has elongated across most of our contemporary cinema and the many new fresh talent that has loomed within it".

It is also evident that for Peries to cast that shadow he needed his burning passion for cinema to light like a towering inferno behind him. Though he did not hatch films as at a poultry farm every year. He managed to magnify the flame with each of his films whenever he set his mind upon making one.

The fact that almost all his films were set around subjects sans politics and senseless violence makes Peries a film maker who made films based on personal sentiments of characters that lived within an era or was portrayed as links to a social fabric that wove a story around an incident.

Nidhanaya, Golu Hadawatha or Beddegama; if compared reflected three totally different social situation an circles but the emotional conveyance of sentiments in all three of them were handled with a deep sense of sensitivity and most importantly, a deep sense of respect for the characters that were portrayed.

Lester James Peries' interest in film making was also most of the time vehicles for actors to drive into unknown territory, if we look back at Malani Fonseka in 'Nidhanaya' or Sriyani Amarasena in 'Desa Nisa' or Jeevarani Kurukulasooriya in 'Delovak Athara' for that matter, it almost screams at the fact that the characters that these actresses were made to play were almost like kindergarten training of the craft that were to take them to classical heights later in their careers.

This fact becomes mostly true when one compares the fact that all three of them were star players in commercial films at the time Peries cast them in those roles.

His art has also been very infectious to his long time bodily immediate neighbour, who started off as an apprentice and became one of the country's award winning film editors and later a film maker of her own right. Sumithra Peries, his wife and emotional and moral supporter has given film maker Lester James Peries that extra bit of charge we all look for to steer ahead in life.

Today a day after the grand master of our film industry has completed 87 years as a noble human being and 56 years as a film maker that gave meaning and reason for viewers to sit through Sri Lankan cinematic creations with dignity and respect, it is a state of grandiose that we see as a backdrop to the present trends and events that are taking place in the industry - the grandiose that was created by Lester James Peries who still, very much remains a part of its pomp.

Sanda Waruna teledrama shooting to begin soon

Jananee Weerarathne

SMALLSCREEN: "Sanda Waruna", a teledrama series by Dharmasena Hemapala, will be a new experience for drama lovers.

Its muhurath ceremony was held at the National film auditorium on March 24.

Dr. Lester James Peries and Sumithra Peries participated as chief guests and inaugurated the ceremony by lighting the ceremonial oil lamp.

The drama series stars Wasanthi Chathurani, Suminda Sirisena, Anula Karunathilaka, Anula Wanigasooriya, Prasanna Fonseka, Edward Gunawardena and Swarnapala Jayasooriya.

New actress Umayangana Wickramasingha will play the main role in the drama. The drama crew comprises Channa Deshapriya as the cameraman, Kolitha Bhanu Disanayaka as the music director, Chandana Nishantha Pieris as the art director, Imal Shanaka Pieris as the make up artist and Deepthi Wijethunga as the Assistant Director. Hemepala has not forgotten to touch on tsunami disaster in his new creation. The plot of his teledrama is full of humour, love and general family problems. Shooting of the teledrama will commence on April 6 in Veyangoda.

Director Dharmasena Hemapala said he always wanted to produce a teledrama similar to "Rekhava" directed by his guru Lester James Peries.

Exhibition of paintings by Dep Thushara

ART: Dep Thushara will hold his latest exhibition at the Paradise Road Galleries in Colombo up to 19 April. It captures the principal theme of his most recent work, which interpreting loosely, deals with the evils of modern materialism.

The innumerable and unattainable stars embody material objects and represent society's constant strive to acquire the impossible. The man is alone, selfish in his thoughts and deeds, possessing an insatiable appetite for 'things'.

A similar painting features a cluster of people looking up at a starry sky. It reiterates the notion that despite being physically in unison, each man has individual hidden desires.

Thushara explains, "Human relations have diminished and material things have come between people. Individuals make no attempt to get to know and understand each other.

Instead, the emphasis is on acquiring more and more objects." Each of the young artist's vivid exhibits has been carefully contemplated; each portrays a different scene and relates a different tale. Hence what appears austere is in fact symbolic and reflective.

Thushara utilises the primary colours of red, blue and yellow acrylics in his art to portray the vibrant tones of the consumerist world, which he observes is filled with attractive advertising to grab attention and lure people.

Stimulating is the painting of a woman adorned in a crown hastily grabbing at stars. The underlying idea is that she collects material objects in order to attain regal status and to ultimately feel special, like a queen.

The image of a female figure with feathered wings is provocative. Thushara explains that between the two sexes, it is the woman who tends to be more materialistic.

The concept of materialism has become embedded in society's psyche and thus is difficult to change, says Thushara.

"The sad reality is that most people are so consumed by it that they do not realise its existence; it has become their natural behaviour." The artist too has been marred by this mass consumerism.

His lonesomeness is felt in the melancholic exhibit of a man with a gathering behind him. The other men appear to be elevated and moving away, which denotes the distance emerging between Thushara and his close friends who at certain instances have abandoned him to go in search of material objects.

Many of his large paintings, which are all titled 'object', are created on two or three separate canvases in order to represent the disparity between objects and people as well as the resulting isolation between people.

Objects are also symbolised in his work by logos that are commonly found on everyday packages. Possessing a sense of movement with several hands and poised bodies, these images are a metaphor for an individual unable to control himself at the thought of obtaining objects - his hands quivering his animated stance.

A man sits in despair in one dark yet thought-provoking painting. He epitomises how his obsession with consumption has ultimately consumed his life.

The figure signifies a moment of honest realisation - what is the use of acquiring so many worthless possessions because eventually he is all alone.

Born in Tangalle, Dep Thushara relocated to Colombo to pursue a Fine Art Course at the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Art followed by a Higher Diploma in Multidisciplinary Design at the National Design Centre.

Possessing a fascination for the human form and ornamental aesthetics, he is partial to art by Gustav Klimt and Francis Baker. Between 2000 and 2003, Thushara displayed his work in visual art and product design at various exhibitions and festivals in Colombo. He has won awards for his creative ability and innovative devices. In 2003, he held his inaugural solo exhibition at the Paradise Road Galleries.

His work is represented in several private and public collections in Sri Lanka and overseas.