Their take on Gamani

Ruwini Jayawardana

Gamani, the much talked about film of Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara recently concluded shooting. As the curtain descended on the part played by the actors, three of them who played prominent roles in the movie expressed their views to Daily News ‘Projector’.

Mahendra Perera

Mahendra Perera who plays the significant role of a home guard in the project said that it is a timely task taken by Rear Admiral Weerasekara in reincarnating the episode which had taken place a decade ago for the present audience.

“It projects the true nature of the episode to the local and international public. The past cannot be dismissed with just a flick of an eye. There is a moral lesson to be learnt through the incident and that is what the director strives to bring out through the movie. We see that the properly trained home guards try to protect the villagers from terrorism without even thinking about their lives. It highlights the fact that though they are military officers, they too are human and possess humane qualities,” he opined on his overall view of the film.

Speaking on the director’s dedication to the task, Mahendra said that Rear Admiral Weerasekara is an expert on the topic. “He knew his stuff through experience and had the ‘feel’ of the events which unfolds in the story. He was very straight forward about what he expected from us. Since he was willing to listen to our own ideas and give us space to work on our roles, we found it a pleasure working with him,” he added.

Dillhani Ekanayake

She takes on the central role of the school teacher who wanders into the terror struck village to soothe the depressed minds of the villagers. At the same moment she reveals her fiery side when she realizes that many lives could have been saved if military operations could have been carried out more effectively.

Dillhani Ekanayake who takes on the role of Sulochana, the school teacher said, “The characters we play emerge out of the real life incident which took place in Gonagala ten years back. Sulochana is a courageous and daring woman who works towards the betterment of the society. I am pleased that I was given the opportunity to breathe life to such a role.”

She added that the she had deliberately made an error in her first scene with Bimal and W. Jayasiri. It was a pleasant surprise for her when she discovered that Rear Admiral Weerasekara had noted the mistake and had asked for a retake.

“He may be new to the profession but he has a keen eye and the knack to make a successful creation. He is someone who is very humane and upholds justice,” she noted.

Bimal Jayakody

With chiseled features, strong build and over bearing personality, it is no surprise that Rear Admiral’s choice in the Army Major fell on young actor Bimal Jayakody.

“I portray the role of Major Vikum who plays the key role in training the home guards. Before taking on the project I had an entirely different attitude towards the civil security department. However after engaging in shooting in areas like Velikanda and Thoppigala, I realized what an arduous task the military forces are taking on behalf of the country. I was able to experience a part of their daily lifestyle through the roles I took up in recent projects like Ira Handa Yata and Gamani,” Bimal related his thoughts on the film.

He also added that Colonel Rathnapriya who is occupying the post that Bimal portrays had overlooked his part on the project.

“He had many words of wisdom to offer and sees that the process is in shipshape,” he said.