Arts

Review:

Aganthukaya swimming against the tide

by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Aganthukaya, the latest film by veteran film maker Wasantha Obeysekara is a story of a man who upheld moral principles against the corrupt establishment which each and every actor is, more or less, supporting it by commission and omission.

The film is produced by A.G.A. Films on behalf of Film Development Fund of the National Film Corporation. The story revolves around Sampath, a Head Master who was transferred to a National school in a far flung area as a punishment on political grounds.

The story unfolds with a series of incidents Sampath and his family have to face. Through his dedication and perseverance Sampath (brilliantly portrayed by Saumya Liyanage) develops the school with impressive academic records.

He is portrayed as an ideal principal who did not bend his rules to the whims and fancies of the regional politician (Sanath Gunatileke) and his cohorts including the contractor who was the unofficial nominee for the multi-million school development project.

Sampath appoints a committee when he gets the allocation for the construction of a building complex for the school and also streamlined the school admission procedure adhering to the rules and regulations. Sampath suffers from the haunting memory of his father's death at the hands of the insurgents in 1980 s as he was opposed to the insurgency.

Despite threats to his life, he sticks to his guns. As a result, Sampath and his family suffers immensely and he had to mortgage his half-finished house to pay legal fees to fight against false law fundamental rights cases instituted against him.

At one point, his wife (portrayed brilliantly by Chandani Seneviratne) has to pawn her jewellery to pay legal fees. As Sampath values principles more than life, he decides to depart from this world.

Wasantha Obeysekara should be commended for highlighting a politically-patronaged corrupt system. It is the system in which the politician at the village level, his cohorts, and the police form the Trinity that blight the village and keep development and progress at bay, depriving the majority of a decent life and forming a democratic society.

Saumya Liyanage as Sampath, the main character, the principal and Chandani Senaviratne as his wife portray memorable roles shedding light to the film.

They have excelled in many aspects of acting and show a remarkable degree of maturity in terms of facial expression and in the delivery of dialogues. Damayanthi Fonseka, Nimal Anthony and Giriraj Kaushalya have also done justice to their given roles and contribute to the overall success of the film.

Throughout their careers Saumya Liyanage and Chandani Seneviratne have been successful in portraying diverse characters on the silver screen as well as small screen and on the stage.

Sanath Gunatilake has also been able to come out of his proto-type role of a politician, reminiscent of his role in Rajya Sevaya Pinisai. However, at some stages, the prototype emerges although Sanath's attempts to deviate from it.

One of the shortcomings in the film was that the film ended in re-enforcing the regime of corruption it had painstakingly tried to destroy. Sampath's suicide signifies that the corrupt system would continue and that it would consume more and more lives of the righteous and upright persons who work in conformity with their conscience.

Brazen display of Sampath's remains in a coffin was unwarranted act on the part of the film-maker given the rich symbolism and rituals associated with death, in Sri Lankan culture.

One of the rare characteristic of Aganthukaya is that it has very little background or playback music. Perhaps, it is something that the story demands.

Aganthukaya is script-written and directed by Wasantha Obeysekara while Ruwan Costa has costume designed. Rohana Weerasinghe with his music has added colour and much-needed allure to the film.

[email protected]

A phenomenal success

Thomian Musical Extravaganza:

by Ranga Chandrarathne

This year's biannual show which began in 2003 and has been directed by Jith Peiris concluded with a note of success. It provides a much needed platform for students to showcase their talents in singing and dancing.

Over the years, Jith who has been associated with the Thomian Family has brought forth pool of talents with varied forms and style. The second musical extravaganza under the banner of Rally Round the College Flag was held in 1995.

A significant aspect of the music extravaganza was that it featured songs only from Musicals and Broadway, TV and Film songs. Among the spirited performances were from Oklahoma (Music - Richard Rogers), from the Fantasticks (Music - Harvey Schmidt, Lyrics, Tom Jones) by The Middle School Singers and from New York (Music - John Kander, Lyrics Fredd Ebb) by Romesh Fonseka and Dayan Fernando.

The production was designed and directed by Vinodh Senadeera, head of the Performing Arts at STC. The selection of the songs for the performance was done in a very careful manner so as to incorporate most popular and all time hits in TV, screen and stage.

Especially musicals such as Oliver, Oklohoma, and The Fantasticks featured the French revolution in songs while the songs from Les Miserable reminded of original songs in the great films.

The production was produced by the Parent Teachers Association; sets by Nimal Bulathsinhala, Lighting and effects were by Imran Pakeer Saibu. The show was choreographed by Mohan Sudusinghe and costumes by Sharmila Fernando.

[email protected]