Suresh Gamage: His dream to produce and direct a film

by Aditha Dissanayake

When it comes to seeking publicity Suresh Gamage should have a second name - perseverance. He knows how to pin you down into writing about him however hard you may try to shake him off.

In spite of the stereotype appearance - light blue shirt with sleeves rolled to the shoulders, revealing the kind of biceps Popeye displays after a doze of spinach, with a thick chain hanging round his neck - looking a great deal like a younger, thinner version of Mr. T, Suresh, yet, comes up with quite amazing answers to the typical questions asked by the press from up-coming stars of the silver screen.

Love, for instance. Is love lovely? (Adaraya Sundarai?) No. Not for Suresh. He grimaces and says he would be happy to do without love in his life at the moment. Once bitten, twice shy? "No, it's a case of being bitten too many times". Then he grins and confesses "I have broken a few hearts too.

But right now, I'm keeping love out of my life as much as possible. It is difficult to act the role of a lover in a movie or a teledrama when you have a girl-friend raging with jealousy behind the scene. The stress is too much. So I have decided to have nothing to do with girls until I reach the zenith of my career."

What does he mean by "Zenith"? "Directing and producing a movie of my own" says Suresh and admits this will not happen in the near future because he has still got a lot to learn. Having starred in Salupata Ahasata, his maiden movie, six years ago he says he became popular with 'Samantha', the movie which focused on the tsunami and in which he plays the role of a young army officer.

He is happy he could portray the security forces in a positive light through this role of an upright and honest officer and recalls how he had been mistaken for a real officer while the movie was being filmed immediately after the Boxing day disaster.

Moving on to more personal details Suresh reveals in spite of his Rambo-like appearance, he likes to spend most of his spare time reading science fiction and trying to grasp the mysteries of the universe. But judging by his daily routine (getting up at 5.30 a.m. to spend two hours in the gym, leaving home at nine for shooting, managing his dancing classes etc) "spare time" seems to be a rare commodity.

Especially when he admits he spends a lot of time to look after his physical appearance as well. "As people in show business it is important that we look different from the ordinary guys on the street. I'm very careful with what I eat because the moment I over-eat I tend to put on weight." Says Suresh.

In order to avoid this he has a "strong" breakfast, skips lunch and has fried fish with boiled vegetables for dinner with lots of fruit juice in between.

Do men find him a threat to their masculinity? Do girls swoon in his presence? What has he got that the other actors of his age do not have?

Door-way-wide shoulders? "V" shaped hips? Bedroom eyes? Yes. All this plus the grit to make a name for himself as the most popular actor of the silver screen. Here is someone who believes anything is possible if you persevere. Example: this article.