Sixties:

Golden Age of Sinhala Cinema

BY RODNEY Martinesz

THE Sarasaviya Film Week always brings nostalgic memories to the Sinhala film buff of a another vintage especially the sixties which is still considered the golden era of the Sinhala cinema.

The early Sarasaviya festivals were marked by great enthusiasm of fans who thronged the open air venues in their thousands to catch a glimpse in the flesh of their favourite stars who were almost deified in those halcyon days of the Sinhala cinema.

That was a time when the police were often summoned to control crowds at cinemas at the premiers of Sinhala films, so high was the fan adulation of their stars.

That was also the time when Sinhala films were few and far between chiefly due to the fact that only a handful of producers engaged in the film business like the Gunaratnams, Nayagams, the Shanthi Kumars and the Masthans.

As a result any new release was looked forward to with eager anticipation by the multitude of fans.

A new film was in fact a major event in those far off days where a cinema outing was a family occasion.

Old timers would still recall the humble bullock cart rushing along some highway with a giant billboard on its side announcing the latest Sinhala film in town to a rhythmic beat of a rabana to catch the attention of the public.

Remember we are here talking about the pre-television days when the Sinhala cinema formed the staple in local entertainment.

The cinema therefore was the premier draw with Sinhala movies drawing in a goodly proportion of minorities too including a heavy sprinkle of burgers who formed a significant community in the 60's.

Of course the 60s cinema owed its allure chiefly due to the deeds of one man and one man alone. That was Gamini Fonseka who virtually stood the nascent Sinhala cinema on its head with his own brand of acting which saw a turning point in the Sinhala cinema which until then was under heavy influence of the South Indian films.

He became almost a cult figure and the crowds that thronged the cinemas to witness the legend in action is unmatched to this day.

As school boys we still remember our gruelling ordeal being pressed and shoved in unruly queues to reach the ticket counter of the Gamini Hall in Maradana (which is still a landmark though the cinema is no more) just to boast we saw the 'first day first show' of a Gamini Fonseka classic.

Gamini alone stood out in an era where screen stars were few and far between unlike today where film productions had reached saturation point spawning in its wake a proliferation of performers most of them of dubious quality.

It is here that one could say with few misgivings that the Sinhala cinema of yore held its own for both performance and quality creations even with the lack of technology and poor facilities of the time.

There were directors like Lester James Peiris, Titus Thotawatte, Mike Wilson and K.A.W. Perera who made sure that quality films came off the slow moving assembly line, while starlets such as Sandhya Kumari, Clarice De Silva and Jeewarani were almost adored by the raving fans.

Sadly the Sinhala cinema today finds itself in the same predicament as the fate that has befallen Bollywood which is woefully starved of stars.

With the exit of several leading icons from among its pantheon the Hindi cinema at present is painstakingly trying to recapture the glory days where cinema moguls such Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan held sway.

A parallel situation is certainly being witnessed in Sri Lanka. One year after the death of Gamini we are yet to unearth a performer who could be even placed in the shadow of the screen legend.

True, no one could fit into to the giant boots of Gamini who strode Sinhala cinema's landscape like a colossus for over two decades.

Even though Gamini was out of the limelight for some time before his death the icon that he was during his hay day helped propagate the legend even in those inactive days.

Interestingly the sixties was also the era where the Hindi cinema had a firm grip among local audiences with the Kapoors, Shammi and Shami, and starlets Sharmila Tagore, Vyjanthimala, Asha Parek and Saira Bhanu were casting their magnetic spell on the Lankan audiences, breaking all local box office records.

The quality of Sinhala films were so high at the time they were able to favourably compete with the pot boilers from our giant neighbour.

The tail end of the Gamini era practically dovetailed with the advent of Vijaya Kumaratunga on the silver screen. Though not in the same mould of Gamini he was nevertheless an instant hit among the young fans who raved over his good looks and charismatic presence.

Sadly for the local cinema we are yet to unearth such stars who can make an indelible impression in the minds of the local cinema going public.

True, there have been glimpses of brilliance among the present lot not to mention the technical advances in the cinematic field. We also cannot discount the achievements of our young directors whose creative prowess have won them and the country international acclaim.

For all that the local cinema is still unlikely to see the likes of a Gamini Fonseka for a long time.

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