Award winner predicts bleak future for Sinhala cinema
E.M.G. Edirisinghe
"My life in art spans 15 years. During this period of performance,
what I cherish to recollect most is my role in the play Arundathie. Then
the character of a dumb woman in the teledrama Uththamavi and the role
of Premalatha in the film Ammavarune, and also my performance as the
female friend in Thani Thatuwen Piyambanna.
I like these characters because each one of them is different from
the other. Unusual circumstances of the character in that film and the
freedom I enjoyed while playing the role in Ammavarune have left a
lasting impression in my memory," said Gayani Gisanthika in an interview
with the Artscope. Excerpts:
Question: Could you explain your entry to theatre and cinema?
Answer: During my days in the primary school, my main interest
was music and dancing. Upon my admission to the secondary school, it
developed into an interest in drama and theatre.
Encouraged by a course in school drama I took part in the Youth Drama
Festival held in 1993 where I won the Best Actress Award for my
performance in Tiththa Kusalana. My first stage drama was Hansayintath
Mang Asai and my first teledrama was Inidiya Mankada while the first
film was Mage Wam Atha.
Q: How did you realize your character in Ammavarune?
A: What I played in Ammavarune was the character of Premalatha,
which portrays the conjugal life of a young girl who marries without
parental consent. She has to undergo economic and personal hardships.
Finally, she comes back to look after her mother who is old, sick and
lonely, the only person in whom she finds solace and freedom.
Inborn talents
Q: In your opinion what is the role of a supporting actor or
actress?
A: The first priority is to examine how to enliven the given
character. To come to the role of a supporting actress, it should be
played so as to bring out the main role into focus at its best
portrayal. Although a supporting actress has her own role and focus, it
should never be played with a view to drown or subdue the importance of
the main character.
Q: It is said that for one to be a good actor, one should
possess inborn talents as well as knowledge acquired through social
observation.
A: Both inborn talent and social observation essential to be a
creative actor or actress. What we learn from society is useful in
understanding a character. One's own experience contributes to moulding
such character. When I was playing as Premalatha, what I learned from my
own village found useful in my effort to give my best for the portrayal.
Also, I watch a lot of movies and study characters I find in real
life, which strike me most. Theatre performance
Q: Do you draw a distinction between the performance for
drama, cinema and theatre?
A: In theatre performance is live. It impels an artist to a
degree of over-acting in comprehension to live reaction of the audience.
The actor must facilitate the audience to see and hear the gestures and
sounds they make. That constitutes a marked difference from how an
artist performs for cinema or television.
In cinema, even the most delicate and the sharpest reaction should be
emphatically conveyed to the movie-audience because they sense it
instantly. Television being a smaller screen, the concentration should
be more on the sound than the image.
Q: How often have you been honoured for your excellence and
how do you react to such recognition?
A: To be honoured with an award is recognition of talent and
pre-eminence. It is a great occasion for any artist. For me, it means to
drive me back to my beginning. An award is for one particular
performance and that settles me to start afresh.
After an award, the filmgoers watch the awardee's performance from an
elevated angle. That throws a challenge to us to perform better whatever
the role we undertake. And, an award is not for ever, it is only a
stepping stone.
Dumb woman
Q: In your long journey in the field of arts, which of the
characters you like most, you breathed life into ?
A: My life in art spans 15 years. During this period of
performance, what I cherish to recollect most is my role in the play
Arundathie. Then the character of a dumb woman in the teledrama
Uththamavi and the role of Premalatha in the film Ammavarune, and also
my performance as the female friend in Thani Thatuwen Piyambanna.
I like these characters because each one of them is different from
the other. Unusual circumstances of the character in that film and the
freedom I enjoyed while playing the role in Ammavarune have left a
lasting impression in my memory.
Q: What do you enjoy most, acting in theatre, cinema or
teledrama?
A: My most favourite field is the cinema. But, the major
portion of my learning and training was gained in the theatre.
Cinema is ideal for playing delicate and intricate characters. The
challenge they throw, I love to take up.
Q: The film must convey more than what it says shows,
otherwise, it is not a work of cinematic art. What is your opinion?
A:It varies with the variations in the theme. We have to
transmit more than what we say and show. When an artist cinematically
articulates the character he must bring out the theme of the film alive
through their performance. Something deeper than what is openly conveyed
should be carried. In the way an artist understands or digests the
character on translation into action, it may assume a different tone or
tenor beyond what the director envisaged.
Q: What do you like to read most, any special reasons?
A: Evidently there is a drop in my reading habit due to
demands of my career as an artist. However, I prefer to read classics
whether of the East or the West.
Karumakkarayo is one novel which I like very much, but my favourite
novel is Sugathapala de Slva's Atamessa. My most affectionate subject is
Buddhism which provides an answer to any issue that we confront in our
worldly life.
Q: Who are the artists in the world cinema you like most? Any
reasons?
A: My best actress is Ranee Mukerjee. She has the talent and
the capacity to do any character given to her. My opinion is that the
artists should not outshine the move in which they perform. Everyone of
them should jointly contribute to the success of the work of art. For
any artist there are two categories of films to select. They are the
commercial film and the art film.
Their disposition will change with a shift to the category of their
choice.
Q: According to Oscar Wilde art should not seek popularity.
How do you relate this for cinema and drama?
A: I agree with his observation. Popularity should go after
art and not vice versa. Television creates an audience altogether
different from other forms of audio-visual art. Most of the television
viewership is neither educated nor matured and therefore, could be made
to embrace anything that comes on television.
They will enjoy a teledrama episode by episode even running to
several hundreds of them without feeling tired of it or seeing no end to
it.
Q: What is your opinion about the present status of Sinhala
cinema and its future?
A: The era in which Gamini Fonseka and Malini Fonseka is no
more. Only a very few films are made today and therefore a few
opportunities are open for the artistes and technicians. There is a
dearth of powerful scripts. I see the future of our cinema as bleak.
Q: Do you accept any role offered to you or be selective in
your choice of the movie and the role?
A: From the very beginning I have been selective in taking
over characters. I am also selective on the director with whom I have to
work. In the case of teledramas the urgency to finish shooting and that
too according to the whims and fancies of the producer is repulsive.
There fore, I am very careful on the selection of the teledrama director
too. Television is one area in which one loses interest faster than we
think.
Q: What are your plans for the future as a film actress?
A: My ambition is to contribute my share to a fine cinematic
production. Now I am concerned with my personal life too, which should
be cared for simultaneously with my life in art. A balance between the
two should be maintained to realize satisfaction in what we do.
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