Old wine in new bottle

Sahan Wijesinghe on the remaking process:

Ruwini Jayawardana

The foot tapping tunes, simple lyrics, scintillating voice and the untarnished beauty of the most popular star couple of the era set Yasapalitha Nanayakkara’s evergreen hit film Thushara on a pedestal that not other film had been able to achieve. Back in the year 2009, more than three decades after the film enchanted local and international movie buffs, the movie comes onto the wide screen once again.

The newest Thushara movie which stars young couple Saliya Satyajith and Shalika Edirisinghe in the roles portrayed by Vijaya Kumaratunge and Malani Fonseka, will hit theatres in the LFD, MPI and NFC’s Rithma circuit cinemas islandwide from October 9. Significantly the day the movie starts unspooling also marks the 64th birth anniversary of the hero of the original version, Kumaratunge.

Global interest

“There is a global interest towards making remakes. Some of our own movies like Kada Una Poronduwa, Sujatha and Hathara Dennama Soorayo has also been revived with new faces. Some of them have proved to be a success. It is extremely risky to make a movie today as there are many factors to consider. There is lack of resources like good script writers, lyricists and vocalists.

These three ingredients play key roles in a movie’s success. I had a choice between making an entirely new production and a remake. As the latter is less tricky, I chose to take it up,” director Wijesinghe explained on why he did not take the opportunity to prove his mettle as a movie-maker with a new movie based on a new plot.

He added, “Countries like India have a separate set of artistes for the mini screen and an entirely different cast for movies. I chose faces which do not appear often on television during that stage. Saliya had only acted in one teledrama and Shalika too was literally a new face to the audience.

The same goes for Pumi Purasinghe who took up the role portrayed by Sonia Disa and Buddhika Rambukwella who had taken on the role acted by Joe abeywickrama. Now most of these artistes have joined teledramas. That is a drawback for my movie. They are professional actors and it is hard for them to survive entirely on films.”

Queried on why he chose to remake Thushara as his debut Wijesinghe said that though 36 years had passed since Nanayakkara’s movie had begun screening, the movie still tops the most popular top ten movies in Sri Lankan cinema.

“I am a fan of the movie and have watched it 26 times. It truly embodies the best that out cinema could offer, form the storyline, lyrics, melodies and groundbreaking performances to H.R. Jothipala’s incomparable voice. I have used Jothi’s voice with recomposed background music filtered into the backdrop for the songs,” he said.

The remake will also retain the film’s eight original hit numbers Jeewanaye Meewanaye, Meedum Gala Kande, Kalak Thisse, Epa Wunoth Heta One Wei, Rantharu Se (Hoi Hoi), Kavdo Ave, Mahada Obe Dayavi, Ho Ho Thushara and Kalak Thisse (duet) by H.R. Jothipala and Angeline Gunathilaka.

For Sahan Thushara is an emblem of his love for cinema. It is not a profit making matter. If the audience enjoys the production and he is able to get back the money he had spent making the movie, he is satisfied.

“I am not rolling in money and I am not a merchant to sell the production to the public. I have not copied the old version frame by frame but have used new technological devices and added a touch of my own creativity to cater the tale to the present society,” he revealed.

Words of encouragements

He also noted that Malani Fonseka, who portrays the role of the heroine, had seen some of the music visuals and had commented that the visuals are simply stunning. “She saw the first half of the movie a year ago at the Dalugama studio but had to leave during the interval as she had commitments elsewhere. Many had words of encouragements to offer once they have seen the movie,” said the actor turned producer who had also produced a few teledramas and films before taking to directing.

Recently another Sinhala movie with a storyline similar to Thushara took to theatres. The movie flopped. “It would have been harmful to my project only if the team had done a better job than me. The plot of Thushara originated from a Hindi movie named ‘Love in Simla’ directed by R.K. Nayyar.

Therefore anyone could borrow the outline of the tale for their production. I have the advantage of using the title and the musical scores of Nanayakara’s movie,” he noted with confidence.

Sarath de Alwis was the music director of Wijesinghe’s Thushara. K. D. Dayananda was the cameraman while Lasantha de Alwis was the assistant director and art director. The still photography was by Lalith Pushpakumara.

Wijesinghe’s Thushara was suppose to unspool around a year back but he says that the country’s security situation forced him to postpone the date of release.

“Movie making is no easy task. I had problems finding the money but NFC chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa and Sunil T. Fernando helped me out in a lot of matters.

I am grateful to them because without their help, I’m sure I would not have been able to bring the movie to the screen.