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| Wednesday, 20 October 2004 |
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Most popular teledrama actor Palitha fulfils potential as novelist by E. M. G. Edirisinghe Theatre in Sri Lanka is either static or on the wane. We have failed to create professionalism in theatre. We need a theatre hall where a play is staged daily and where even a foreigner can enjoy our drama, For this, theatres on the model of mini-theatres and warm-up theatres are useful. If I had that opportunity, I would have been still in theatre as well. For you to be a professional stage actor, you have to sacrifice a lot and with the present economic strains it is neither feasible nor profitable. Question: Your first love was the stage. Now you are a permanent feature on the small screen. Loss to stage is a gain to television. Any comments? Answer: When my mother lulled me to sleep, it was my first taste of art. I owe my present to my past on stage where I was trained to enjoy art and literature. The strength the stage offered to me was the preamble to my present standing in television. The experience and learning I gathered on stage is carried into my performance in cinema and teledrama. My experience in enjoying the thrill of live audience reaction I received for my role in Sergeant Nallathamby, is etched to last in my memory.
The stage cannot provide a means of livelihood for the stage artiste. With the decline of the stage in the '80s, I moved onto television in the 90s. My stage experience helped me to create an impact on the small screen. It was only on stage that I felt a sense of creativity that could last. Q: You have won the best stage actor award for your role as Kaspar and the best single-episode director for Gamata Amuththek Avith. How do you feel about missing the best actor award in television? A:An award for excellence in whatever performance is important to any artiste. That is a certificate of merit which has both professional and national significance. Within the last 15 years I have acted in over 125 teledramas mainly as the main actor. Whenever I was considered for honours, I might have had to face stiff competition from the other artistes. However, I was nominated for the Best Actor Award for my performance in Induru Dora and Durganthaya. If my performance had been considered by a panel for an award, I am satisfied. No worries over it. Q: You have been performing on stage, large screen and small screen. How do you view these three different mediums? A: Diversity in audio-visual art has come to stay. Their challenges and demands differ. On stage, the actor must project the strength of the character while the demand in cinema is for more realistic performance where the actor must live in the character. Ben Kingsley as Gandhi in Gandhi is a good example. Television medium lies in between these two where dialogues must be strong and witty with a little bit of extra punch in the acting. Cinema is a much greater medium than television. A stage actor could more easily adapt to teledrama than to cinema. Landmark Q: Do you have any idea of getting back to stage where you have made your mark? A: I love to act in stage-comedies. When I was about to get a break into serious theatre, I was moving away from it to join television. Laughter is a very important segment in theatre because it binds the audience to a play. The best actor award which I won is a landmark in my career as an artiste. Q: It appears that you are more or less confined to television drama. Don't you wish for a change in your medium giving in to your versatility in the thespian art? A: Theatre in Sri Lanka is either static or on the wane. We have failed to create professionalism in theatre. We need a theatre hall where a play is staged daily and where even a foreigner can enjoy our drama. For this, theatres on the model of mini-theatre and warm-up theatres are useful. If I had that opportunity, I would have been still in theatre as well. For you to be a professional stage actor, you have to sacrifice a lot and with the present economic strains it is neither feasible nor profitable. Q: Marlon Brando is considered the best film actor ever lived. Do you agree with it and what are your views? A: No, I do not agree. He is only one of the best actors. Tosiro Mifuni and Marciano Mastriamoni too, are among the best. Realistic acting came into vogue with sound. Method acting advanced by Stanilausky made the actor to live in the character he portrays. Brando followed it to the letter while Mifuni was slightly aligned to surrealism as we have seen in Seven Samurai. Q: Can you explain your entry to art, to stage and cinema in particular? A: When my mother sang kate kiri suwanda yannata pava beri una for me, my first taste for art was kindled in my heart; its rhythm sank into my subconscious. My entry to theatre is by an accident. Ekadhipathy of Dharmasiri Bandaranaike the first play that I watched left a strong impression in me. Then I got an opportunity to come in contact with Dr. Soloman Fonseka who taught me the basics of scientific acting. Diversity Q: You have been performing diverse characters in a large number of teledramas. How do you enter into such different characters? A: Initially the temperament of the director must be understood to know what the character has to portray. An actor should first study the character he has to portray, its history past, present and future through which he should get at its soul. Then what you have grasped should be re-captured when it comes into contact with the other characters in the play. That leads one to a penetrative study of the character. Till then one should not come to pre-conceived conclusions. Finally it is only when the make-up artiste completes his touches the character is evolved in full with finer points being cleared and seized. Q: Twice you became the most popular teledrama actor. How do you embrace this decoration? A: It is difficult to describe. The most popular actor concept is generally peculiar to Sri Lanka. I honour both awards. They are different evaluations coming from two different textures. We have simple productions as well as complex productions. Also, we have creations of temporal value and perennial value. Creations of both these layers are important for perpetuation of art. Q: How far do you enjoy acting? If so why and how? A: I do really enjoy acting. An artist never gets bored with his creative work or activity. That is why I selected it as my joy and livelihood. Any actor enjoys his creative contribution to art. It is a profession in which one lives and could enjoy it both in and out of the location. An artiste never ages. Q: In today's Sri Lanka, the film fans show a greater charm towards Hindi film stars. Do you see any special reason for it? A: Popular cinema in India is built on glamour. The average film-goer is invariably drawn to glamour. Indians invest a huge amount of money to bring in charm that fascinates the film-goer. Here in Sri Lanka, we cannot even think of it. Moreover, there is a Hindi invasion in Sri Lanka. Hindi cinema Hindi artistes are attractive; they can dance magnificently; music is truly entertaining. The emphasis on popular cinema has pushed classical Indian cinema almost into non-existence. In India, cinema is pure entertainment which could certainly appeal to our audience as well because we share similar cultural norms and traits. Q: Who are the cinema artistes you like most? A: I like all our artistes for various reasons. Among the Indian artistes Sharuk Khan and Aiyshvarya Rai come to my mind first. Marlon Brando, Robert de Niro, Mifuni etc. stand out among others. Q: What sort of advice you can give to the new generation of artistes joining the profession? A: Be patient; be studious. Q: As a popular as well as a versatile actor, what are your plans for the future? A: I wish to take to directing a film. I have studied the subject of film direction at the National Film Institute in Poona way back in 1995. Q: What is your ambition? A: My greatest ambition is to be a writer. I have already published two novels, E Deegeka Giyaya in 1998 and the other Athek Barata Henduvak on October 8. I instinctively developed a sense of writing after my association with film-scripts and novels. Medium of literature is all-embracing; it can make up for the short-comings and inadequacies in other forms of art. It is much easier to keep a viewer happy than to keep a reader happy who is more intelligent than the viewer. **** Back **** |
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