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Sarath Namalgama undertakes new task :
Taking art to marginalized groups
Ruwini Jayawardana
Sarath Namalgama took on the responsibility of healing the minds
of neglected groups in the isle. Soon a couple of equally compassionate
souls that joined his mission, He was able to lead them to engage in
many of the activities.
This was the beginning of a mission which helps to heal the mind and
bring a joyful smile to the lips of those who believed that they have
been rejected from the society because they failed to join in the mad
rat race for power the society is pursuing today.
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Sarath Namalgama. Picture by Malan Karunaratne |
Actor and producer Sarath Namalgama is one of those rare beings who
had made an attempt to think out of the box. The producer of teledramas
and films had crossed many oceans to visit foreign lands like USA,
Canada, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Malaysia, Qatar and countries of the
Middle East to gather experiences which shaped his point of thinking.
He had come up with the concept of taking his creations to certain
isolated groups in the isle.
“I put together the first stage play which went on boards the
Psychiatric Center in Staten Island, USA. It was then that I began to
ponder about why some marginalized groups do not get an opportunity to
witness such creations.” He related how the project came to be.
He says that though an artiste’s mission is to entertain groups like
those from elderly homes, orphanages, the less-abled and those in
rehabilitation camps the people concerned are not lucky enough to step
into the theatres to watch a film or see a stage drama. Some of them do
not even have facilities to watch television.
“It is pathetic because they are dying for this sort of entertainment
to bring a change to their monotonous lifestyle. I believe that there
are certain messages we should pass onto the younger generation. This is
one such example,” said Namalgama.
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The screening at ‘Thusitha’ elderly home, Polgasowita, on
February 11 |
The screening at Moratuwa ‘Janadhara’ elderly home on February
24 |
Since it is an arduous task taking the individuals to film halls or
drama theatres it was a matter of taking the screens, amplifiers, sound
systems and projectors to where they resided. Over 350 elderly homes are
found across the island. Namalgama launched his program at ‘Thusitha
Elderly Home’, Polgasowita, on February 11.
“The project is aimed at providing mental satisfaction to the
isolated people in the country. Maneesha Sharmali and Sandun Wijesiri
also joined me in this venture. The elders were thrilled with the
experience,” he said adding that he screens his own productions.
“We edit the teledramas and cut the running time down to three hours.
These isolated groups are only provided with the basic requirements.
Nobody looks towards their mental satisfaction which is of utmost
importance to me,” said the producer who had clinched the Sumathi Tele
Award for Sihinayak Pata Patin in 2006.
Speaking of his experiences as an actor he says that apart from the
teledramas and films he had also taken part in Ananda Samarakoon’s stage
play Ahasin Vatuni Minissu. He had toured Korea and USA with the cast. |
