Sarasaviya celebrates 50 YEARS in print:

Stardust on the page

Ruwini Jayawardana

For nearly five decades Sarasaviya has been considered the pioneer of the art print media industry in Sri Lanka. Today it has raised its bar to become the first to bring some of the latest news and happenings in the local and international art industry.

Sarasaviya Editor Aruna Gunaratne. Picture by Tennyson Edirisinghe

Packed with stunning images and interviews which relate facts from the horse's mouth the ANCL weekly publication is the longest running art tabloid in the country. The Sarasaviya Awards, organized by the Sarasaviya magazine, is a much looked forward to event by movie buffs since it brings all the top personalities involved in cinema under one roof. Sarasaviya has many other features like its consistently updating website to its credit.

"Sarasaviya does not merely relate gossip or depend on hearsay. We include articles which contribute towards the development of cinema and pave way for better productions. We consistently update ourselves," Sarasaviya Editor Aruna Gunaratne opined as he shared his views in this week's 'Encounter of the Week'. An old boy of Ananda College, Colombo, Gunaratne is Sarasaviya's 12th editor and has spent 21 years working for the magazine.

He has also worked for the Government Film Unit and has eight documentaries on diverse topics to his name.

Q: Sarasaviya is widely known among the community as a tabloid relating cinema news yet it includes articles and news about other art related fields like teledramas, books, music, stage plays, dance and paintings.

A: Sarasaviya was not initiated as a cinema magazine. The meaning of the title derives from the dwelling place of the Goddess Saraswathi. The magazine comprised a series of articles on topics related to women, children, sports, cinema, stage drama and foreign news. It was a family magazine rather than an art tabloid. The first cover itself signifies that it does not revolve purely around cinema.

Sarasaviya became labeled as a cinema magazine because of its contribution towards the industry with the inception of the first Sarasaviya Film Festival in 1964. Sarasaviya gave prominence to cinema with the film industry's golden era. There were equal place for art films as well as entertainment productions. Some of our past covers have adorned pictures of Martin Wickramasinge and Mahagamasekara as well.

Sarasaviya began concentrating more on cinema and television after 1978. Magazines like T haruni, Mihira, Budusarana, Subasetha and Kreeda were offshoots of Sarasaviya's success.

Q: Many art related magazines have made it to the market after Sarasaviya . However they have not lasted for a long span.

The first Sarasaviya edition

A: True. The reason behind this success is that Sarasaviya does not merely relate gossip or depend on hearsay. We include articles which contribute towards the development of cinema and pave way for better productions. We consistently update ourselves about the global cinema industry. We are a magazine which caters to the whole family. The tradition of reading our paper has passed down to many generations. We recently met a reader whose grandchildren too are fans of the magazine. Apart from Sarasaviya only two cinema magazines: Kala and Sarasi have been in existence in Sri Lanka for more than a decade. We have a record number of people who read our articles on the web. These are mostly youth. Our web version is different from what goes on paper. We believe in providing knowledge as well as something new in each article.

We have had many prominent personalities as editors. Edwin Ariyadasa, Benedict Dodampegama, Reggie Ranasinghe and Cyril B Perera have nurtured and set the guidelines for us to follow.

Q: One of the highest accolades that an actor or actress of yesteryear has received was a Sarasaviya Award but the festival was not held in recent times.

A: We were unable to organize the festival for a continuous three years due to various problems. Those have been solved now and we are making preparations to hold the festival in 2013. The Sarasaviya Awards is not only a major event for us but is an asset to the cinema industry.

Q: Whose concept was it to launch Sarasaviya ?

A: Ranjith Wijewardena has stated that the concept belongs to Desmond Wickramasinghe. Meemana Prematileke heralded this idea and became its first editor. He handed over the editorship to Wimalasiri Perera after three weeks. Perera made the foundation for the paper. He was its editor for 13 years.

Q: Today's generation is fast moving from traditional entertainment equipments. For example they watch mofilms or listen to music on their mobile phones rather than watch a video on television. Is Sarasaviya open to such concepts and people who initiate such trends?

A: We need to be on par with these new aspects. The present generation is open minded. They do not hesitate to make a production and post it on YouTube.

Unfortunately a majority in the country see them in backward light. We have given them a chance to express their views and bring their productions before the public.

For example some students from Royal College came to meet me. They had made a feature film.

I was reminded of my schooldays when I spoke to them. We featured their story in the magazine and afterwards I got the opportunity to watch their film. It was one of the most amazing productions that I have ever seen.

It is about how a group of youth try to engage in filmmaking.

We also met a young mother from Anuradhapura who has made a film overcoming various hardships.

Sarasaviya Founder Editor Meemana Prematileke hands over the first copy of the magazine to Printing Foreman Cornelis. Wimalasiri Perera is also in the picture.

She had filmed the project while looking after her child when her husband has gone off to work.

She had also won an award at a film festival. Prasanna Vithanage had seen the film and commented that it is a genuine, praise-worthy production. We need to give a hand to such talented youth to blossom to their full potential.

Q: Some months back Sarasaviya came with a new look and tagline Sarasaviya Aluth Wela (Sarasaviya with a new look).

How was this 'newness' brought about into the paper?

A: We are consistently renewing ourselves. We have launched www.sarasaviya.lk for regular updates to be in touch with our readers.

We have included many items which link us with them. One is a meeting with a star which is conducted monthly.

Another is a draw in which they are allowed to win a book.

We take part in some of the prominent events like exhibitions which are open to the public and hold discussions or workshops at such events.

We have been the print media sponsor for events like Colombo Theater Festival and Kandy Film Festival. We have especially focused on upcoming short filmmakers in recent years and have backed them in bringing their productions into the spotlight.

Q: How will you be commemorating the 50th anniversary celebrations?

A: We will be holding a pirith chanting ceremony in the morning. There will be an artistes' paduru party at Lake House in the night.