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| Friday, 1 October 2004 |
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Sri Lanka's leading film idol Gamini Fonseka passed away yesterday. He was 68.
His lived a life full of laughter, love and adventure. He was a very warm human being and when one of his former mentor's at S. Thomas' College was in debt to the tune of several lakhs of rupees after a failed attempt at running a book shop and went to see him, Gamini gave him the money to settle the debt. This man is still alive and will bear witness to this. He was proud yet he was humble and reached out to help those in need. He was not a man of wealth but a man of means, mental, physical and monetary and the latter he spent with largesse. The man who broke new ground in the Sinhala cinema with his advent to the field in the late 50s was ailing for some time and was largely confined to his home in Ja-ela. Gamini has been a household name for nearly five decades both as a versatile actor, director and politician. He became famous for his heroic roles breathing new life and introducing new concepts to an otherwise moribund Sinhala cinema. A product of S.Thomas' College Mt. Lavinia, he was a keen physical culturist and possessed a fine sense of humour which made him popular among his contemporaries particularly as a caricaturist, many of his subjects being his teachers and mentors at the school by the sea. Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka, the most popular actor of the Sinhala screen for nearly five decades was born on March 21, 1936 as the third of William and Daisy Fonseka family at Dehiwala Morris House, the ancestral house of Fonsekas and had his education first at the Presbyterian School and then at S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia. Gamini, dominated the local cinema with his dynamic acting and powerful personality for nearly half a century. His contribution to the development of the Sri Lanka's film industry was tremendous. He began acting in films at a time when the Sinhala Cinema was highly influenced by the Indian Film Industry. Our Actors and actresses were poor imitation of Indian film idols. Sinhala films were produced mostly in Indian Studios. His entry into the local film world changed all that and energised it and gave it new personality, originality. In fact he revolutionised the local film industry. He was a doughty-fighter for the rights of Sri Lankan actors. He had thousands and thousands of fans and his films played to packed houses. He began his career as a technical assistant in Rekawa of 1956, which added much colour to the social and political revolution of the times. In fact it was Dr.Lester James Peiris who spotted the great talents the young lad had. And, he nurtured and developed Gamini Fonseka from adolescence to adulthood and fame. From his first film Daiwayogaya in 1959 to Nomiyena Minisun in 1994 he was at his best and Nidhanaya film a copy of which preserved in the art gallery in Paris was acclaimed as one of the best films ever made in the country. In this film Gamini portrayed the character of Willie Abeynayake, the avaricious aristocrat who married beautiful woman and sacrificed her in his quest to add to his riches in a hunt for treasure. Gamperaliya, another of his films was adjudged the best film and won the Golden Peacock Award at the International Film festival in 1964. His best directing came in the Koti Waligaya, 1986- the political satire and Uthumaneni and Sagarayak Medha were films made him famous as a director. From 1989 he was politics and was the Deputy Speaker of the House while Ranasinghe Premadasa was the Executive President of this country. When the Present President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumatunga assumed duties as the Executive President in 1994, Gamini was called to be the Governor of North and East and that period of his political life was marked as a great loss to the Sinhala cinema. He was, perhaps the only Sinhala actor felicitated in Hollywood in recognition of his contribution to the silver screen. The memory of Gamini Fonseka will live long in our memories. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Gamini, Sinhala cinema's pre-eminent personality, mega star and
character actor famous for his tough guy roles was also former Deputy
Speaker of Parliament. Gamini who lived a full life as actor, director,
politician and company director died of a heart attack .
