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Time for Lanka's Oscars

The Sarasaviya Film week held at the Katugastota Sigiri Cinema in Kandy for the first time drew massive crowds. There was a packed audience too at the conference held at the D. S. Senanayake Auditorium Kandy.

by Sunil Mihindukula

The Sarasaviya Awards Festival, the greatest arts festival of the Sinhala Cinema will take place at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall on October 27 at 6.00 p.m.

This is the 30th year of holding the Sarasaviya Award Festival. The first Festival was held on May 9, 1964 at the Asoka Cinema Hall, Colombo, 17 years after the first Sinhala filmscreened. By then a series of good Sinhala films like Podi Putha, Rekhawa, Sandeshaya , Ranmuthuduwa, Kurulubedda, Sikurutharuwa and Gamperaliya had appeared on screen. Yet the main stream consisted of simulations of Indian productions.

In the words of the famous film critic Jayavilal Wilegoda, most of the Sinhala films produced during this time were Sinhala speaking Tamil ones.

First festival

Out of the 14 entries in the first Sarasaviya Film Festival held in 1964, nine were "copy" films. That was the backdrop when the "Sarasaviya" newspaper inaugurated the tradition of presenting awards to cinema artistes.

The first Sarasaviya Awards Festival had as entries not only the films screened in 1963 but also the films screened from 1960 to 1963.

Gamperaliya directed by Dr. Lester James Peries won the award for the best film at the first Sarasaviya Awards Festival. The same film won the "Golden Peacock" Award at the 3rd Indian International Film Festival held in New Delhi in 1965,confirming the accuracy of the Sarasaviya standard of assessment in selecting award winners.

The other remarkable feature on this selection was the fact that it was the very same film Gamperaliya which was adjudged the most popular film by the readers vote in the year 1964.

Sikurutharuwa scored the highest number of days running in 1963 while Vena Swargayak Kumatada marked the lowest number of days of running that year.

These facts reflect the reality that by the decade 1960, the local cinema fans taste in appreciating films had been gradually maturing.

The 1960 is regarded as the Golden Era of the Sinhala cinema. This factor can be better interpreted as a positive result of the cultural renaissance in the aftermath of 1956. From one point of view, high quality artistic innovatives like Maname, Rekhawa and Viragaya came to the lmelight during this period.

From another point of view, there emerged during this period a class of educated young arts lovers from Universities turned Pirivenas and Central colleges who deeply appreciated the values of high quality artistic innovatives.

Isn't it incorrect to conclude that they were the cinema lovers who appreciated films like Ranmuthuduwa, Sikurutharuwa, Gamperaliya, Saama, Gatavarayo, Delovak Athara, Sathsamudura, Parasathumal, Saaravita, Goluhadawatha, and Dahasak Sithuvili that saw dawn of the day in the 1960s.

From the very outset, the Sarasaviya Awards Festival manifested itself as a guideline to a quality cinema industry. From 1964 to 70, films like Gamperaliya, Gatavarayo, Saaravita, Sathsamudura, Goluhadawatha, and Binaramalie won awards as the best films at the Sarasaviya Awards Festival. Sarasaviya Awards Festival was the cornerstone to pioneer the course of establishing a standard for a good cinema industry.

According to the versatile writer, author and teledrama playwright Somaweera Senanayake, who served the Sarasaviya newspaper for a long period, the Sinhala Cinema to a more purposeful cause. (Sarasaviya, March 31, 1994)

The symbol of the Sarasaviya Awards Festival was modelled by internationally acclaimed artist and sculptor, Tissa Ranasinghe while the Saraswathie Abhinandana song was composed by Chandraratne Manawasinghe.

Unique occasion

The participation of a number of Cinema personalities at the Sarasaviya Film Festival of 1966, was a unique occasion. Selection of the best film artistes was a feature introduced that year. Gamini Fonseka was chosen as the most popular actor while Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya was chosen as the most popular actress.

During the two decades from 1962 to 1982 Gamini Fonseka held sway as the most popular actor marking the period from Ranmuthuduwa in 1962 to Sakvithi Suvaya in 1982 most appropriately as the Gamini Fonseka era.

In the aftermath of 1983 for full five years continuously, the humanitarian actor the late Vijaya Kumaranatunga retained with himself the position of the most popular actor which devolved on Sanath Gunatilake, Jeevan Kumaratunga and Ranjan Ramanayake successively after the demise of Vijaya Kumaratunga.

Anula Karunatillake, Malini Fonseka, Geetha Kumarasinghe, Sabitha Perera, Dilhani Ekanayake and Sangeetha Weeraratne were the actresses who were eventually crowned as the Most Popular Actresses.

Pack of awards

Recognition of the popular cinema is a unique feature as far as the Sarasaviya Awards festival is concerned. An overview of the history of the Sarasviya Awards Festival shows its tendency to recognise the film artistes who displayed their talents in the field of commercial movies.

Winning of awards by Karunaratne Abesekara for lyrics in Maha Re Hamuvu Striya D. R. Nanayakkara for acting in Bicycle Hora, Asoka Ponnapperuma for acting in Indunila H. R. Jothipala for singing in Mihidum Sihina can be recalled as examples of this tendency.

At the Awards ceremony of 1968 a further award was added to the existing pack of awards. That was the award for the best sound system.

The awards for the best supporting actor and actress were introduced in 1969. Sarasaviya Film Festival was not held during the period from 1971 to 1979. Yet, the Sarasaviya newspaper conducted a competition to select the best cinema artiste in the year 1976 to coincide with the Non-aligned Nations' Summit Conference.

The Sarasviya Awards Festival recommenced in 1980 for the 8th time. An award for the Best Make up was introduced on this occasion.

At the Sarasaviya Festival of 1982, an award for the best up-coming actress was introduced. Nadika Gunasekara was the first actress to win this award in 1982.

In the following year the award for the most popular novice actress was introduced. Awards for Photography for black and white and for colour were introduced in the same year.

The Ranathisara Award that can be accorded only once in a lifetime was introduced in the year 1986.

The two Emperors of the Cinema world, Gamini Fonseka and Joe Abeywickrama won the Ranathisara Award that year.

The most popular actor award was introduced in the year 1990 followed by awards for the best novice actor and actress in 1991.

Ranjan Ramanayake won the best novice actor's award that year with Dilhani Ekanayake bagging the award for the best novice actress.

At the 2003 Sarasaviya Awards festival, the Indian Cinema Artiste Maani Ratnam participated. A Film Festival was conducted in his honour to mark the occasion.

The Editor of the Sarasaviya newspaper is the Chief Organiser of the Sarasaviya Awards Festival. Accordingly, Wimalasiri Perera, Dharmadasa Boteju, Granville Silva, A. D. Ranjit Kumara, Thilakaratne Kuruvitabandara, Susil Gunaratne, Anura Bandara Rajaguru and Deepthi Fonseka functioned as the chief Organiser in successive Festivals since the year 1963.

The present Editor Sunil Mihindukula Organised the Sarasaviya Awards Festival for the year 2004. On the overall review of all the Sarasaviya Awards Festival so far held, it is just and fair to conclude that this awards ceremony has enormously contributed to the cause of building up a standard Sinhala Film Industry consisting of praiseworthy cinematic personalities devoid of low values in order to cater to the taste of regular film goers.

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