Arts

Path-defining commercial film

Dancing Star:

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

With Glamour and superior sound quality, the star-studded `Dancing Star' is poised to achieve Box Office success in commercial films in Sri Lanka. Many aspects of the film including costume-design, lighting that director Susara Dinal has taken an entirely novel approach in making commercial films. `Dancing Star' is marked a groundbreaking venture, redefining the cinematic landscape for commercial films.

Instead of lacklustre triangular love stories or poor imitations of Hindi or English movies, time has come for young generation of directors to enter the field in a big way to win back the audience to cinemas. For, it is the commercial film that keep the industry viable and making it once again a profitable industry.

Although film is technically superior to most of the commercial films, it is questionable whether entire film-goers can taste the excellent picture quality and stereo sounds due to existing facilities of theatres in Sri Lanka. Meticulous editing has made it one of the flawless films and it is a pity in a way that audience could not fully appreciate the good work of the director due to these technical constrains. Â

`Dancing Star' is marked for its finer quality lighting, resulted in extremely rich texture in the visuals. Because of the stereo sounds, the audience enters into a virtually realistic environment further enhancing the cinematic experience.

Most of the actors and actresses have done justice to their roles. However, Roshan Ranawana has failed to live up to the expectations. Particularly he failed to evoke the expected sincerity and genuineness of a lover when he gave a rose to the girl. In contrast, newcomers including Shiroshi have proved their mettle in cinema. They showed that they have a long journey to embark upon, perhaps, redefining the path and expanding the horizon for commercial films in Sri Lanka. `Dancing Star' was also able to make a convincing story line which is absent in recent films such as Aba.

The screenplay writer has been able to exploit the subtle nuances of linear narrative form. Apt for a commercial film, the writer has developed a line of events holding the audience in suspense from beginning to the end. Through the manipulation of the scenes in a sequential and chronological manner, the Director brings the film to a convincing climax. One of the salient characteristics of a successful commercial film is that it should appeal to a cross section of society and be able to enjoy by audience because of its superior picture quality, management of colour and also, to a certain extent, depiction of characters. `Dancing Star' fulfils most of the requirements of a successful commercial film. The film is breaking new ground that redefines the landscape for commercial films. It is at times candidly and delectably au fait with reality.

An inexplicably poignant and exigent plot, as it marooned the audience in complex thoughts steering trancelike settings of imagination, clashing into avant-garde characters while fancy takes its flight.

Susara Dinal should be commended for entering the film industry at a time the industry needs a revival.

It is a home truth that successful commercial films will lay a strong foundation for the film industry in Sri Lanka, winning back audience to cinemas.

Pussellawa on Canvas:

Portrayal of pastoral village life

by Indeewara THILAKARATHNE

The Youth Faded inside a tea leaf

"With his keen eyes for details and artistic brush strokes, Lalith Senanayake brilliantly portrays the multi-faceted life in idyllic hill country village of Pussellawa. It is not only his remarkable style which immortalises the cultural landscape of Pussellawa with its lush-green tea plantations surrounded by misty hills, but also his sharp insight into the vivid life there."

Veteran artist Lalith Senanayake's exhibition of paintings titled "Pussellawa on Canvas" is now on at the American Centre, Colombo. Perhaps the most striking painting is the one titled "The Youth faded inside a tea leaf".

It is a picture of a maid carrying a basket of tea leaves. The lush tea plantations in Pussellawa provide livelihoods for a community whose entire lives are spent in and around the tea plantations. This young woman would have been born in a line-room and eventually would take up work at a tea plantation where her forefathers would have worked and lived their entire lives as labourers. Their lives would have been dried up under scorching sun and faded their youth faded away under the shade of tea leaves. It is the plight of the plantation workers for generations. This unknown young lady represents her generation. Lalith has artistically captured and portrayed vividly the grim story of a generation through a maid. He has used colours sparingly and aptly captured the facial expression of the maid. Tea plantations in Pussellawa not only occupy a prominent place in the economy, but also constitute a larger portion of its cultural landscape.

"Speaking Eyes" is a portrait of a girl intensely looking at some unknown object. Her silhouette is reflected upon a glass of a doorframe while part of her face is lit up by a beam of light filtered on to her face.

The attention of the artist is on her extraordinary perceptive eyes which tell a story in silence as if they speak. Apart from the part of the face which is lit up by a beam of light, the rest of the painting seems dark and by manipulation of light and shade, Lalith has focused the attention of the viewers on the perceptive eyes of the girl which is the theme of the painting. From the flowers tucked onto her hair and the "Pottu" (black dot) on her forehead and ear-rings suggest the girl's ethnicity.

Speaking eyes

Combination of the colours used for the painting is both appropriate and represents the environs of Pussellawa. Among the other topics that Lalith deals paintings titled "The Frame of Life", "Conventional Youth" and "Blank Youth" further explore diverse facets of life in Pussellawa. For instance, the painting "Frame of Life" is a painting of a girl surrounded by a frame.

Although the frame is not defined, it is obvious that the life of this girl is put into an indefinable frame which may be a culture, religion or set of values which defines her life. The "Conventional Youth "is a picture of a conventional Tamil girl. Here the artist graphically represents the kind of `youth' pre-determined by conventions.

Apart from portraying the diverse facets of human and cultural landscape of Pussellawa, Lalith has also expressed scenic beauty of this hill country village through paintings such as "Blue Morning", "Yellow Sky" and "Hanuman Kovil". "Pussellawa on Canvas" is an artistic rediscovery of the town of Pussellawa and the village in the hill country.

Young talent on display

Sithuwili 2009:

by Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

There were splashes of colours merging together to form breath-taking images on canvas. Young artist Dulip De Silva's creations derive from his imagination and his experiences. Fifteen of his oil paintings and three of his fabric paintings are on display at 'Sithuwili 2009', an exhibition of art and handcraft presented by a group of artists. The exhibition is now on at Sunil's Cabin, 43/11, Beach Road, Mt. Lavinia, from 10.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. 'Sithuwili 2009' comprises around 300 creations: paintings, paper tools, wooden arts and handcraft items by the artists.

Dulip's talent for art emerged while he was a student at St. Thomas College, Matara. N.W. Samaraweera, his art teacher took the young lad under his wing. His initial training began with watercolours before he decided on oil paints as his main medium.

"I focus on nature and its close relationship with living things. The figures I draw are not just copies of people, animals or incidents that I have witnessed. They are not mere portraits but surface out of my style of mixing colours with figurative art," he expressed.

Dulip had been a member of the Shanker's group, India, from 1992 to 1998. He had also clinched several awards and certificates in art competitions. He held his first solo exhibition in Matara on November, 2004. From there on he had taken part in a number of group exhibitions in Galle, Matara and Colombo from 2006. One of his paintings had even been brought by a Italian art collector and added to his collection.

"I use only a limited number of colours for each painting. Most of them are light shades which are soothing to the eyes. Though a limited number of colours are included in one painting, it is not evident to the onlookers as a number of other shades are formed through combining the shades. A skilled artist can create millions of shades by using a few colours," he noted.

A banker by profession, he says that painting has become one of his passions in life.

"Though I have not tried my hand at abstract art I hope venture into the sector in the future. I'll have to gain more experience, he said. He aims to showcase his paintings abroad and develop his knowledge on the subject.

The sound of music - 2009

'Sound of Music - 2009' an instrumental evening presently by Meeriyam Music Centre, Chilaw will be held on the March 9, 2009 at 2.30 and 6.30 p.m. at the "Sudasuna Theatre". This concert includes a wide range of musical instruments in the western tradition of music. This music concert aims to enhance the taste of western music within the common audience. The concert will be attended by the students of Meeriyam Music Centre as well as the professional musicians.