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He was once the reigning hero and prince charming of the mini screen but shifting to the role behind the camera made his appearances on reel less frequent. Yet the audience is still carving to see the good looks together with an abundance of talent unfolding on the screen.

“I have several plans under my belt at the moment. I hope to direct a children’s series as well as a children’s movie, titled ‘The Golden Star Fish’. It will be a Sri Lanka - Australia co-production. I penned the screenplay which relates to a tale of an adventurous journey on a search for a magical star fish,” Channa Perera elaborated the latest turn in his career to Daily News ‘Projector’.

Such a theme recalls his first attempt on the hot seat as a director, a challenge he emerged through with glowing colours as Punchi Weerayo won applause. With Tikiri Hapannu also linked to him, Channa seemed more bent towards being involved with productions made for children. Is there any special reason for this?

“I have been working with children for a long time and I believe in my capabilities in making a successful children’s creation. Punchi Weerayo and Tikiri Hapannu sharpened my knowledge on the ideas and expectations of children.

If you make a quality children’s production you can cater it well as children are eager for entertainment and schools will permit them to see a production which will cultivate their mind. In addition the whole family will be able to enjoy a day together in the theater.

If you make a children’s film in the proper manner, it will entertain not only the kids but audiences of all ages. This will be an added boost to the success of the film and the industry will benefit through the income,” he explained also adding that there is a huge demand for children’s films in the international arena.

“It would be a matter of dubbing the creations in English, Tamil or any of the required languages and catering it to the market. Allocating a market for Sinhala movies had always been my target ever since I stepped into the shoes of the director. I have been collaborating with the Australian producers for over a year and things are looking up,” he added.

Speaking on the projects he had spoken of earlier to the media Channa noted that there is still hope for Sanda Diya Salu and Kalpa Charika.

“Our cinema industry survives merely due to the interest and dedication of a few who are engaged in the field. There is no system to support those who are employed in the sector. Former chairman of NFC Asoka Serasinghe and I negotiated with an Indian company to invest for the movie.

“However the project fell apart due to various reasons. Kalpa Charika is a film similar to the ‘Indiana Jones’ series. It is a type of adventure love story that had never been made by a Sri Lankan before,” he expressed adding that he believes that it is wise to engage in making low budget films during this period.

“According to today’s market I believe it’s advisable to make limited-budget movies so that producers will be able to afford and profit from their investments.”

Queried if he had given acting a break, Channa pointed out that directing had always been his forte. The old boy of Royal College had shown fascination towards directing ever since his initial days as an actor.

“I used to spend a lot of time studying the director’s movements, the techniques and the lighting. I was at the zenith of my career as an actor when I engaged in Punchi Weerayo. I am very pleased to make my presence felt in both areas.

“If a director offers an interesting character to me, I would definitely consider taking up the role,” he stressed while admitting that he has a carving to take up a role of an underworld gangster!

“That is mostly because people have taken my role of the charming blue-eyed boy for granted. I wish to convince them that I could mould myself into different roles as well. I love to do a challenging role similar to the mentally disabled character portrayed by Jack Nicholson in Milos Forman’s ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’,” he grinned.

One can’t help but reminiscent over his stint in a number of popular tele serials like Senehewanthayo, Sathpuravesiyo and Sooriya Daruwo, all of which contributed to gaining recognition as a popular and gifted actor. Significantly Yashodha Wimaladharma was his leading lady in all these productions so much so that most saw a glimmer of a Channa-Yashodha era emerging on the screen.

“I have heard of similar references but I believe that it is the audience who decides on these eras. You cannot expect to act with the same actress in a continuous amount of projects and bran it as an era.

We both became choosy in the number of projects we signed later on. I was becoming a bit bored with the offers because many of the directors who approached me later wanted the reincarnation of one of the characters I have portrayed before in another teledrama inserted into their project.

“I wanted to engage in something different and exciting as I have been involved with the industry for a long period. That is mainly why I turned to direction,” Channa said.

He portrays the lead role in Ananda Wickramasinghe’s third film Hadawatha Mal Yaya which is slotted for release soon. He had also co -produced and taken up a significant role in Shirley P. Delkandawela’s teledrama Kaneru which had completed work and is waiting for a small screen slot.

South East Asian films

At the 39th IFFI in Goa a number of films from foreign countries were shown. Most of the films had subtitles in English. Only in such film festivals we can see a variety of films depicting different cultures in the respective languages. Among the 95 films shown, I could understandably see only a few during the 10 day festival. During the current year I had brought information and reviews of a great number of films I had seen on this page.

However, there were films that need to be noticed by serious cineastes in our country. For their benefit, I wish to share my observations and information I collected on this page. Such gleanings would naturally be brief.

This week let us look at some of the South East Asian films. The films were from Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan-Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Thailand-Hong Kong- Singapore.

The name of the Director was Ekachai Uekrongtham. Born in Thailand, this talented young director ad worked for the most part in Singapore. ‘Beautiful Boxer’ and ‘Pleasure Factory’ were his earlier films. Since personally I do not like horror films I skipped it. The film was about the beauty of life and death I was told.

The Malaysian film ‘Shadows’ was directed by Hatta Azad Khan. Studied in the U.S. he is an academic on theatre and film. We learn that one of his sitcoms ran for 18 years on Malaysia’s TV3 channel. His earlier film was called ‘Mat Som’.

He Malay word for Shadows is ‘Wayang’. This film could be summed up as a clash of traditional methods of interpreting Ramayana and modern methods in the form of puppetry.

Coming from Singapore was ‘Salawati’ Directed by Marc X Grigorof. He has studied and worked in the U.S., Tokyo and presently in Singapore.

This was the story of a 12 year old Singaporean Malay girl. The blurb spelt out that the film was an exploration of the fragile nature of human relationships, particularly in the face of a tragedy. It calls into question our notions of morality, mercy, revenge and ultimately, forgiveness.

From Taiwan there were three films, besides one other jointly produced by Taiwan and Kong Kng.

‘Cape No 7’ (Wei Te-Sheng), ‘The Most Distant Course’ (Lin Jing- Jie), ‘What on Earth have I done’ (Doze Niu Chen Zer and Wrong), ‘Secret’ (Jay Chou) were the films screened.

Ekamath Eka Rateka shifts to Savoy 2

Seasoned actor Sanath Gunatileke’s maiden cinematic creation Ekamath Eka Rateka passed its third successful week recently. The movie which is screening at CEL and Rithma circuits islandwide recently joined Savoy 2 on June 20. It will be screening in its new venue till June 25.

A specialty about this version of the movie is that is subtitled in French so that those who know the language will be able to follow the story without difficulty.

The movie stars Sanath, Nirosha Perera and Roshan Ravindra in lead roles along with Chandani Seneviratne, Damitha Abeyratne, Semini Iddamalgoda, Himali Sayurangi, Kumara Thirimadura, Nilmini Buweneka and others in significant roles. It is presented by Janaka Ramanayake. RJ

Bringing ‘New York’ to Colombo

‘New York’ is a contemporary story of friendship set against the larger than life backdrop of a city often described as the center of the world. Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) has gone abroad for the first time in his life and soon enough he begins to see and love America through the eyes of his American friends - Sam (John Abraham) and Maya (Katrina Kaif). It is the story of these three friends discovering a new world together that is explored in ‘New York’.

However one day the world around them changed. For most of us, major events in the world are just headlines in the newspapers but these mere headlines may have a pact on our lives...forever. ‘New York’ is an example of a tale of how three friends lose grip of their lives as elements run out of control.

Enter Agent Roshan (Irrfan), an FBI undercover agent who sets the ball rolling for a series of tumultuous events that turn the lives of the trio into a dangerous and thrilling roller coaster ride.

‘New York’ is Yash Raj film’s latest production and directed by Kabir Khan. Produced by Aditya Chopra, the music is directed by Pritam. The movie will be screening at Savoy, Wellawatta, and Sigiri, Kandy, from June 26. It is distributed in Sri Lanka by EAP theaters.

‘New York’ Katrina’s best ever role?

Kabir Khan is a confident man. Just a fortnight away from the release of his second film ‘New York’ he feels audiences are sure to be touched by this John-Neil-Katrina starer. Here are excerpts from an interview with the director.

Q: First ‘Kabul Exp- ress’ and now ‘New York’. What’s it with you and stories about 9/11 and global politics?

Katrina Kaif

Fascination with global politics...Yes you are right. Maybe it has to do with my news background. But the 9/11 connection is just a co-incidence.

Both films are extremely different. ‘Kabul Express’ was very personal. ‘New York’ is far more mainstream and lavish, meant to reach out to a wider audience.

In ‘New York’ I first drafted out a story of three friends and then set 9/11 as a backdrop. Of course when you show WTC in the promos, people tend to identify it as a 9/11 film. But there’s much more to it than that. People are free to pick on that aspect of the plot or just view it as an emotional story about friendship.

Q: Was it a conscious attempt to take a more mainstream approach in ‘New York’ given the limited success of ‘Kabul Express’?

No, I am just trying to adopt a style true to the film. ‘Kabul Express’ was always a small film and it got noticed in the international circles. It’s only here that we like to categorise such films as arty.

‘New York’ needed a larger canvas and higher emotional pitch.

Q: How did you choose John, Neil and Katrina as your international students?

They all suited the personality and physicality I needed for my characters.

Once we finalised the script we looked at the options. For John’s character I needed a stylish larger than life persona.

There was also the ‘Kabul Express’ comfort level. In Neil’s case I liked his first film and he had the vulnerability which was key to his character. With Katrina initially it was of course her persona and look.

But she has worked so brilliantly in the film. I think it’s going to be a career defining performance. You’ve not seen her like this before.

Tikiri Suwanda will pay tribute to war heroes

A religious festival to pay tribute to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the war heroes will be held at the Gangarama temple, Colombo 2, on June 26 at 5 p.m. Titled Rana Vijaya Prasada Poojapohara wheel chairs, support gear and sanitary wear will be donated to disabled war heroes.

The Maha Sangha will grace the occasion while a numbers of distinguished guests from the cinema and political scene will also take part.

Changing lanes

South East Asian films

Ekamath Eka Rateka shifts to Savoy 2

Bringing ‘New York’ to Colombo

Tikiri Suwanda will pay tribute to war heroes