Kanyavi to make a significant impact on the screen

Ruwini Jayawardana

Titling a film Kanyavi is sure to raise more than a couple of eyebrows but as director Sirithunga Perera puts it the movie is for audiences of all ages.

"Many believed that the name suggests that it is an adults only version. That is not the case. The screenplay of Kanyavi was penned over 35 years ago. One of my journalist friends Kithsiri Mevan Jayasena knew about the project. He returned from USA recently and inquired about the film. Once he got to know that I was searching for a suitable name, he suggested Kanyavi," said Perera revealing on how he came across the title of the movie.

According to the director the movie celebrates womanhood. It revolves around a woman's struggle to keep her family intact.

"The family is the central point in our existence. It is an aspect which needs to be stable to lead a successful life. The film is an exploration of the pure nature of women. A woman should be pure at heart and strong to meet the challenges of life," he enlightened.

Kanyavi deals with the conflict of emotions and actions between a husband and wife.

The husband helps a damsel in distress only to discover that he gets much more than he bargained for. With incidents queuing up in life Janaka gradually detaches from his young wife and daughter and becomes involved with a third party.

Janaka's best friend is a popular actor. He is infatuated by Janaka's wife without being aware that one of his closest friends, an actress, is attracted to him. Kanyavi focuses on how far an untimely meeting takes a toll on the lives of several individuals.

Perera had joined the Kala Pela Society and had worked with contemporaries like Nihalsinghe and Kothalawala during the period. His passion for the arts and especially cinema had been nurtured during this era. He said, "Cinema was my ultimate target. I wished to make a significant impact with my first film. I began studying quality international films and the techniques employed by the directors.

I gleaned a lot from them and also through what the film critics have suggested in their reviews. Cinema was at its zenith then. It is only the wave of low quality productions based on cheap topics which brought destruction to the industry." According to Perera the best way to impress the viewers is by making a worthwhile creation by embedding our own identity to the production.

"We need to use some of the techniques but it is our own culture and traditions that should emerge from the project. Cinema is one of the best modes of taking our unique aspect to the world," he said adding that some of the filmmakers engage in constructing movies to fulfill the needs of certain foreign forces.

"Some creations are projections of treason against the country while others saw movie-making as a means of making profit. They spun grotesque tales filled with scenes involving pornography and it is no wonder that the audience who had been used to high quality entertainment rejected them.

A film's success is measured by the number of people lured into the cinema hall. People are eager to see a good film. You just need to provide them with one that is worth their money," he stressed adding that he backs the Government's ban on the movies labeled as 'Adults only'.

Kanyavi is produced by Indika Wijeratne on behalf of Cine Vision Lanka and stars Sanath Gunatilleke, Meena Kumari, Pubudu Chathuranga, Himali Sayurangi, Susila Kottage, Sathischandra Edirisinghe, Somaweera Gamage, Hayasinth Wijeratne, Seetha Kumari, Upali Keerthisena, Kapila Sigera, Kumara Ranepura, Norman Palihawadana, Sunil Premakumar, Panduka Sridayan, Malka Damayanthi and others. Dilani Madhurasinghe who had made a significant impact on the mini screen will make her debut into cinema.

The art director is Kamal Tillekeratne. Derrick Fernando handles the make up, K.D. Dayananda the camera and Stanley de Silva the editing.

Interestingly the music compositions included in Kanyavi were among the last created by maestro Premasiri Khemadasa. Dr. Ajantha Ranasinghe and Upul Shantha Sannasgala penned the lyrics. Amarasiri Peries, Indika Upamali and Kasun Kalhara provided the background vocals.

Shooting took place in Colombo and Nuwara Eliya. The movie will make its appearance at the Ridma circuit cinemas in November.

His latest teledrama Handapana based on W.A. Silva's popular novel will also be appearing on the mini screen at the end of the year but he reveals that Handapana will be his last tele production.

"The teledrama industry had come to a point in which there is no place for good creations.

A new trend had eclipsed the field and the audience is taken towards a different direction. I have been biding my time to make it to cinema and now that I have made it there, I wish to dedicate myself to the subject," he concluded adding that he would begin work on his second film on the day that Kanyavi begins unspooling at theatres.