A beneficial invitation

The invitation extended by National Film Corporation Chairman Asoka Serasinghe to Indian film producers to use Sri Lanka as a location for South Indian films should open the doors for a renewed acquaintance between the film industries of Sri Lanka and South India.

Time was when a nascent Sinhala film industry had to depend on South Indian studios for their productions and those who happen to view Sinhala films of that vintage would still notice the names of South Indian producers and technicians in their trailers.

There were even South Indian films dubbed into Sinhala with some of our own actors and technicians involved. An invisible bond was forged between the two film industries across the Palk Strait and the present invitation no doubt would renew this liaison of a bygone era.

In a way we could now be happy that the Sinhala cinema has come a long way and is in a position to offer our own locations for South Indian productions in a reversal of roles so to speak.

As reported in our page one story yesterday many Indian producers have expressed their keenness to use Sri Lanka's locations and have thanked the Government for extending concessions and other facilities in this regard. Sri Lanka of course had played host to location filming for world productions, the best known being the internationally acclaimed movie "Bridge on the River Kwai".

This was followed by films such as "Mountain in the Jungle" which brought the famous Ursula Andress to our shores and of course the mega production Indiana Jones. Most recently, Deepa Mehta's internationally acclaimed movie Water was filmed here.

This latest move to extend an invitation to Indian producers while cementing long standing ties with the South Indian film industry is also bound to rekindle nostalgic memories of a by gone era in the minds of ardent fans of Tamil moves of yore.

That was a time when irrespective of the language barrier armies of Sinhala fans flocked to well known cinemas in the Capital to enjoy the action of MGR who incidentally was born in this country or the more romantically inclined Sivaji Ganeshan.

This was also a time when we heavily borrowed from South Indian themes and adopted characteristics of South Indian stars. However we were able to divest ourselves from this slavish imitation thanks to the emergence of such stalwarts as Lester James Peries who ushered in a watershed by introducing an indigenous cinema into the country.

Yet for all that, the affinity of the majority of our film goers with the Indian cinema persists to this day going by the heavy demand for Hindi and Tamil pot boilers that have now saturated even the mini screen.

The latest Bollywood and Kollywood movies are now released here on the same day they are released in India, so impatient fans do not have wait till the films 'come' to our shores.

The advent of Indian film producers for location filming while enriching both the Sinhala and South Indian film industries would also go a long way to promote mutual accord and understanding between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu in the context of the current conflict.

It is also hoped that it would have a catalytic effect of assuaging the feeling between the two communities and open the doors for rapprochement and reconciliation through the language of the cinema.

The State Film Coloration meanwhile should try to promote Sri Lanka as an ideal film location site with added vigour. The Tourist Board too could step in to carry out a promotional campaign in Western capitals to get more international film crews to Sri Lanka.

Food security

Today, the World is observing yet another World Food Day. But an adequate diet remains a dream for billions of people worldwide. Starvation and malnutrition are common in the poorest regions of the world.

The world has largely forgotten the horrific pictures of living skeletons in Ethiopia and Somalia, but hunger is a global problem. The UN's World Food Programme is addressing these concerns, but the limited resources at its disposal are not making the task any easier.

Sri Lanka recently began a food production drive which emphasises the local production of food. It is indeed pathetic that Sri Lanka had to import a number of foods that could be grown here.

It is equally distressing that a billions of rupees are spent on wheat flour, while stocks of rice go waste. There are many initiatives now underway to popularise rice-based products, which should be commended by all.

Sri Lanka should also focus on the sustainable management of agricultural resources, prevention of plant and animal diseases, research and development, storage and processing techniques for crops, better transport/distribution systems and food safety. The maintenance and the development of the country's vast irrigation network is also pivotal to achieving healthy harvests.

The farmer, not bureaucrats working in air-conditioned offices, must be involved in the decision-making process in all these efforts. He is an important cog in the economic wheel and should be given all help and facilities.