Julia to premiere in London

Ruwini Jayawardana

What started off as a dream match turns into a nightmare for Julia, a damsel in distress waiting for a knight in shining armour. After discovering her husband’s true identity, her world crumbles. She who had once known love and happiness now dwells on fear and suspicion, until another human being enters her life and brightens her lonely existence. ‘Julia’ is a quadrangle revolving around four individuals: Julia, Dilru, Dev and Shakie whose lives are interlinked and intertwined.

This tale of Julia’s tragic plight is captured effectively on lens by Young debutants Charith Abeysinghe and Sampath Sri Roshan in their debut cinematic venture, ‘Julia’, which will make its premiere at the Odeon, Empire Leicester square, England, on December 14 at 10.30 a.m. This will be the first time that a Sri Lankan production will make its debut at an international theatre.

The film was shot in locations in Sri Lanka and England. Charming young actress Nadeesha Hemamali takes on the title role of the film while producer Charith and director Sampath along with Sasanthi Jayasekara, Harsha Bulathsinhala and Achala Walpola were involved. The movie also features veterans like Ravindra Randeniya, Robin Fernando, Veena Jayakody, Sriyantha Mendis, Rex Kodippily, Sandun Wijesiri, Stanley Dikkumbura, Teddy Vidyalankara, Bandula Sooriya Bandara and others.

Veteran cameraman Donald Karunaratne was the cinematographer of the movie while Ranjit Mathangaweera handled the make-up department. Sujeewa Gunaratne is the art director and Ranjith Prasanna the Assistant Director. Jaganth Nissanka is the Production Executive; Nalam Atigala is the line producer and Sugath Sisira is the media coordinator of the film.

Ranga Dassanaike, the son of the late veteran musician Sarath Dassanaike, has made his debut into film music direction in ‘Julia’. Dr. Ajantha Ranasinghe, Kelum Srimal, Ananda Padmasiri and Namal Attygalle have penned the lyrics while Kasun Kalhara, Uresha Ravihari, Gratiaen Ananda, Bachchi Susan, Charith Abeysinghe, Bhathiya Jayakody, Ashanti Sandria and others have lent their voices to the songs.

The melodies were composed by Ranga Dassanaike, Bhathiya Jayakody, Kasun Kalhara, Gratiaen Ananda and Nuwan Thenuwara.

‘Julia’ is also the first Sri Lankan movie that had adopted height definition cinema technology. Prasanna Sujith and Rameshbabu, who are said to have trained Bollywood king, Shah Rukh Khan, have provided 12 dancers to take part in a dance number in the film. ‘Julia’ was also the first Sri Lankan production to be edited at Pinewood Studio, Buckinghamshire, England.

What is Indian cinema?

K.S. Sivakumaran

For better understanding of Cinema, let us see what the professionals in the field of filmmaking and others have said about it.

One of the evergreen actors and director in the Indian Cinema was the great Raj Kapoor, the eldest son of the late veteran actor Prithviraj Kapoor. He said: “Cinema is cinema! Psychologically, cinema alone has involvement. How long can you watch the tube? Television at home is just you and your family.

But when you go to the cinema, you have a lot of people all around you, and you come to a common level of application, you denounce the action or revel in it, but it is a common feeling among you. You enjoy it, you laugh, you clap, and the whole hall is laughing. When you feel wronged and cheated, the whole hall feels cheated. Now that is a very different kind of feeling”.

Gautam Kaul is a famous artistic filmmaker in India.

In an article he said that “when cinema came to be introduced in India, the reputation of women associating in filmmaking was not particularly acceptable in social circles. When Durga Khote, a high caste educated woman, stepped into this profession, a bit of respectability was established for the women artistes. Public and State recognition for merit in cinema came to change public opinion regarding the reputation of those who were in the business of filmmaking.”

Is the Indian Cinema still a formula blended mere entertainer? A critic, B. B. Nagpal has this encouraging remark: “The dream merchants of the Indian film industry have come a long way, weaving dreams that have played both a uniting and a national role, transgressing boundaries of class, caste creed or geographic delineations.

There is hardly any denying of the fact that Indian films are perhaps the strongest factor for biding people of all sections, states and regions together, since they bring a unique kind of oneness, by showing to the audiences that wherever one may, the toils and troubles, the joys and happiness, and the tears and sadness are the same everywhere.” He also adds:

“Thematically, Indian cinema has seen various phases, from the mythological to the fantasy, from the family drama to the romances, and from the costume dramas to the cinema of realism. In the pre-independence era, these themes were used to rouse the Indians against the “British.”

John W. Hood, a foreign critic clearly drives a point when he says that: “There are two major popular misconceptions that the scholar of Indian cinema has to deal with. One is that Indian cinema is synonymous with those interminable long spectaculars set to a popularly established formula.

That this is Indian cinema is an illusion suffered by those yet to discover that there is an alternative Indian cinema of intellectual depth and considerable artistic polish. Yet many of those who have discovered this cinema labour under the second misconception: that the Indian art cinema consists simply of the films of the late Satyajit Ray.”

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‘Max Payne’ visits Liberty

Max Payne, a cop in the NYPD, returns home one day to find his wife and baby daughter murdered at the hands of drug addicts, high on a designer drug called Valkyr. After 3 years of working on the case, Max and his best friend Alex go undercover to bust a V-deal. However, things go wrong: Alex is suddenly killed, and Max is framed for his murder. Hunted by the cops and driven by determination to avenge his family, Max Payne sets out to uncover the truths behind his family’s murder.

Everything ripped apart in a New York minutes. Payne is a man with nothing to lose in the violent, cold urban night. A fugitive undercover cop framed for murder and now hunted by cops and the mob.

Max is a man with his back against the wall, fighting a battle he cannot hope to win. Watch this action movie, directed by John Moore starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Olga Kurylenko, as it unspools at Liberty cinema.

Vijaya Kumaratunga commemoration
 

A commemoration to coincide with the 63rd birth anniversary of Sri Lankan’s legendary hero, Vijaya Kumaratunga, was held at the National Film Corporation recently. Many of those who are connected to the film industry took part in this event organised by NFC Adviser T.M. Sangadasa, according NFC Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa’s concept.