In the Limelight

Sajitha Anuththara:

Child star now at zenith

From his childhood, he had been influenced by different fields of art, like drama, cinema, singing and dancing. He saw and heard them, experienced them, practised them and performed them. Now... finally... we have Prince Aba or Sajitha Anuththara, the son of Jackson Anthony and Kumari Munasinghe. Sajitha is presently an Advanced Level student of Ananda College, Colombo.

Little Sajitha became interested in dancing and drawing and later in acting under the influence of his parents. The parents used their vast experience so that this small boy can harness better future results.

He performed first in montessori concerts and then on the school stage. Then, he got the opportunity of acting in a German film called Off Road under a German director. Prior to the commencement of shooting, a training session was held for the actors. That was his first role where he appeared as a monk.

In the famous film Suriya Arana, Sajitha performed the lead role, and had the opportunity of acting beside his father. The two child characters, the young monk and the son of an Adivasi (played by Sajitha) became very famous.

Next, Sajitha acted in the film Kurulu Pihatu. He says, “I wanted to be a hero and Suriya Arana gave me that chance”. And now... it is the heroic story of Aba; he has indeed become a hero.

Sajitha gets all the appreciation, criticism and support from his family first. He says that he gets a lot of assistance from his father, in the way of co-operation, knowledge, education, encouragement and guidance. His mother helps him in the music field, as do his brother and sister.

When he acted in Suriya Arana, it didn’t pose a big problem for his educational objectives and studies, but by the time Aba came his way, he was in Grade 11 and was to sit for the Government Ordinary level Exam.

There wasn’t enough time for him to complete his studies when shooting ended after August. But his father had promised Rev. Fr. Sylvestor Ranasinghe, the Principal of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo (where he was then studying) that they would prepare Sajitha for his examination. The promise was fulfilled when Sajitha got through his examination well, with support from the family, and qualified to enter Ananda College for his A/Ls.

Sajitha’s name became a household word after the film Aba was released. Sajitha says that for his acting, he drew inspiration from other films with similar characters. He learnt from those experiences and the stories he had heard about kings.

But here was a character of a royal prince who had to live among common people and face many difficulties and later even deal with death. Sajitha’s father, the director of Aba, had given him enough knowledge of the character along with historical events. So, he could live in that character and give it his maximum.As his father, Jackson Anthony was the director of the movie, Sajitha had a double challenge.

First, his father expected a lot from him (as he was the son) and then much more as the director of the film. Anthony had his own reasons for selecting Sajitha for this character. Everything was new to Sajitha.

As the film was a grand show, costumes, background, make up and all other things were on a massive scale and challenging. So, he says that he had to play his role with support from others, and believes that he had done justice to the character.

The popularity the character has gained is ample testimony for this success. Sajitha is happy with the responses he had got for his role and the movie. He believes that he was lucky to take part in a movie of this nature and receive such responses.

Sajitha enjoyed the company of some great Sinhala film actors like Malani Fonseka, Ravindra Randeniya and Sabeetha Perera during the making of Aba. So, he learnt, as he says, “A lot from them, and could share their experiences. It was a big learning period for me.”

Sajitha is guided by his father and he has many hopes and plans. After his higher education, he will continue to remain in the art field like his parents. He wants to be a good musician, talented actor and a well-known artiste.For young ones like himself, he has a word of advice, “Have a good education first. Then enter the arts field where you will face many challenges in life. To gain anything in life, you have to be hopeful and reach for those goals.”

- Asha Senevirathne Pix: Priyantha Hettige