Acting freestyle

Channa Bandara WIJEKOON

Kaushalya Fernando has embraced the divine world of art at very young age. Her mother Somalatha Subasinghe being a professional and well known artiste in the spheres of stage drama and cinema wanted to inculcate in her daughter’s mind virtues of art. Kaushalya’s father was the well respected scholar Lionel Fernando.

Kaushalya has proved her merit through decades by acting in plays such as Maraa Saad, Sanda Langa Maranaya, Bernardage Sipiri Geya and films such as Sanda Dadayama, Sulanga Enu Pinisa, Akasa Kusum, Ira handa Yata and Mouse.

The graduate of Colombo University and a visiting lecturer of University of Visual and Fine Arts Colombo and Jayawardenapura took time off her busy schedule to share her views with Daily News ‘Projector’.

Q: You play the mother’s role in the stage drama Bernardage Sipiri Geya, which is somewhat similar to the role your mother played in the film Maha Gedera.

A: By appearance the two characters had similarities. Bernarda is a very challenging role for an actress. This had been translated by Dr Ranjini Obeysekera in the late 1960s.

Two actresses have played Bernarda before and the last time it was my mother. The newest production is by Priyantha Sirikumara.

Any actor in the world would like to play that role. It is a privilege to have played it alongside seasoned artistes like Duleeka Marapana, Chandani Seneviratne and Chamila Peiris.

The original script was by the Spanish writer Federico Garcia Lorca. There are trilogies written by Lorca: Yerma, Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba.

The drama Moodu Puththu had been a Sri Lanka adaptation of Yerma. My mother played the main role in Moodu Puththu. I have produced the adaptation of Blood Wedding as Sanda Langa Maranaya in 2005.

Lorca had a good knack for reading women. He usually writes on the plight of a woman. Irrespective of time and the context, the true temperament of a woman and feelings of love within men and women as a whole is the same.

In Bernardage Sipiri Geya Garcia discusses the deprivation of love and sex of women at the right age.

The mother who has her own whims and fancies dictates her daughters to fall in line with her thoughts which creates desperation and leads to a tragic end. However, the mother’s rigidness too is justified in the play.

Q: Do you fancy playing tragic roles?

A: Yes, I do not know why though. (laughs). The very first play I enjoyed in my life as a child was Moodu Puththu, which was a tragedy drama. I have seen it so many times. I used to always avoid the scene where my mother cries after seeing the corps of her baby in the cot.

Q: How did your parents inspire you to become an artiste?

A: They never told me directly although the surroundings had tempted me. After my mother started her own theatre group, watching rehearsals being done and mingling with artistes and scholars became part and parcel of our lives. Veterans like Gunasena Galappaththi, Thissa Abeysekera and Dharmasena Pathirajah were often seen in our home.

I used to listen very carefully to their discussions and debates which cut across various topics such as music, drama, cinema and politics.

On my mother’s persuasion I learned to play the sitar, studied Indian classical singing, Kandyan and Low Country dance forms and read a lot. My mother was very interested in seeing me associating with less privileged people in the society.

Q: Stylized and Realistic drama the two main genres of drama being practiced in this country have their own success stories. What style do you fancy?

A: I fancy both. Dr Sarachchandra brought stylized drama to the fore. We respect Sugathapala De Silva for introducing the realistic form. It depends on how you want to express the actions in whatever form. It also depends on the script.

I think, even a very political issue can be brought out with depth through the stylized form.

A Shakespearean drama too can be done in a stylized form.

However, the light hearted political dramas produced in our country at present cannot be done in the stylized form. It’s how you want the viewer to perceive the fantasy and reality in drama.

Q: Should we create an identity using traditional folk drama and stylized form to entice the foreign audience?

A: This was what Dr Sarachchandra did decades back. We have our own styles, like folk theatre.

We can recreate world renowned dramas with a blend of our styles and identity but the ‘core’ of the play should be the same. For instance, we can have our own interpretation and own style of presenting Macbeth.

Dayananda Gunewardena used folk drama style for Gajaman Puwatha, Madura Jawanika and Ananda Jawanika. The stylized from was used even in my mother’s play Vikurthi. Channa Wjewardena once teamed up with Dilup Gabadamudalige to give a new denotation to Gajaga Wannama.

Modernized versions of Beethoven and Mozart are played in hotels in many countries to create the right atmosphere. One must know his or her onions and embody a vision to achieve such a feat. Also, there should be enough funds in his or her kitty. Our contemporary playwrights hardly have these blessings.

Q: Share your views about the State Drama festival that is being held these days.

A: The state drama festival is the only occasion where the dramatists are given some appreciation and recognition. It should not be done just for the sake of doing it.

It has to be given due respect and held at a place with state-of-the-art facilities. All requirements of the artistes and producers should be met. Nelum Pokuna would have been the ideal place to have this event.

Q: Are the modern playwrights in our country treading in the right direction?

A: Good dramas are being produced time to time and shown only in Colombo and the suburbs. Most of the students who pursue the Diploma in fine arts have not seen these dramas. New playwrights should gather knowledge and then do dramas or films. There is a massive learning process to enrich oneself before coming into limelight.

Many a present-day theatre director does not know about folklore. Even University students do not fancy doing an in-depth study of our folk drama styles. Studying Marlon Brando and Lee Strasberg is not enough to come out with innovations.

Playwrights like Gunasena Galappaththi, R R Samarakone, Sugathapala de Silva were bilinguals. They had the exposure to the world and they read a lot. There were also good critics who did constructive criticism without prejudice.

Q: What are your up coming movies?

A: I played one of the best roles in my career in Sathyajit Maitipe’s Bora Diya Pokuna. The censor board is still struggling to approve the film from being released. Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s award winning Flying Fish is another film awaiting release.

Dennis Perera’s Three Wheel Diaries has completed shooting. The film was made in a different mould which is more realistic.

Q: Do you adapt acting ‘methods’ for your performances in films?

A: I do not stick to methods but let loose a free flow of acting.

I read the script, take time to understand the character. I inculcate attributes suited for that character and nurture those in my mind. When I finally perform in front of the camera, an acting style naturally evolves to suit the performance.

Q: You have excelled in academic side too.

A: I am a visiting lecturer at Visual and Fine Arts Colombo and Jayawardenepura. I work for the English department at Jayawardenepura with Madhubhashini Ratnayake. We use drama to develop the students’ personality and the level of English language proficiency.

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OCIC calls for applications

Plans are underway to stage SIGNIS Awards ceremony 2013 at the BMICH this year. The ceremony will focus especially on the wide screen while teledramas and programmes related to television will take backstage.

More awards will join the cinema segment apart from the Best Associate Director and Best Production Manager awards which were introduced to the line up last year. Awards will be presented for categories such as the best comedy film, most popular cinema production and many more.

A short film competition will also be held in parallel to the SIGNIS Awards. Applicants can present their creations for the competition under art and entertainment categories.

The short films need to be between 10 to 15 minutes long and should be presented in DVD format.

An essay competition will also be held under the topic ‘Sinhala Cinema beyond 66 years’. The essays should comprise no more than 2500 words.

Send in your short film or essay to SIGNIS Sri Lanka, No 19, Balcombe Place, Colombo 08 between 8.30 am to 4.30 pm. The closing date for applications is April 30. For more details call 011 2693425, 0718954214 or 0770212043.

A forgotten era revived

Angu Rajendran

Popularly known as an indefatigable cineaste, Ashley Ratnavibhushana has co-authored the book ‘Early Sri Lankan Cinema and its association with the South Indian Film Industry’ with well-known Tamil translator M L M Mansoor.

The book that is jointly published by Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) and Asian Film Centre (AFC) was launched on the 24th of February at the National Film Corporation. Many glitterati from Sri Lankan cinema such as Sumithra Peries and Malini Fonseka were present at this book launch. According to the authors, the book is based on archival materials, interviews, contemporary reminiscences and rare photographs in an attempt to explore the circumstances that led to the South Indian involvement in the Sinhala cinema during its formative years.

The first copy of the book was presented to Guest of honour Dr Aruna Vasudev from India and the second copy to Wong Tuck Cheong from Malaysia who is also the Honorary Secretary of the NETPAC.

Dr Vasudev who is also the founder president of NETPAC has been the ‘wind beneath the wings’ of the two authors. Seeing the need to bring into print and to quote her ‘not just on the internet which is so intangible’, the memories of a forgotten era, a time when South Indians directors, cinematographers, sound recordists, technicians and musicians contributed to the making of Sri Lankan cinema, Dr Vasudev had encouraged and supported Ashley Ratnavibhushana and Mansoor into making this book a reality. The presence of vivacious Dr Vasudev at the launch gave a lot of gusto to an otherwise ordinary book launch. Dr Vasudev’s claim to fame does not end with NETPAC, she is also the founder-editor of the Asian film quarterly Cinemaya, and the founder-director of the Asian cinema festival Cinefan. She’s an author, critic, and programmer and is related to India’s first family in that her daughter is married to Varun Gandhi, son of the late Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of the former Indian Prime Minister, the late Indira Gandhi.

Pictures by Wasitha Patabendige