Que Sera, a film for the whole family

by Husna Inayathullah

Veteran film-maker Parakrama Jayasinghe who directed the award-winning movie Ekada Wehi 10 years ago has come back with another spectacular creation Que Sera.

Que sera is screened at the Regal, Colombo and other Ceylon Entertainment Ltd (CEL) circuit cinemas. It is the third cinematic direction of Jayasinghe. The story is quite different and unique compared to the present Sinhala movies. The film is for the whole family. Jayasinghe has always maintained that cinema is for entertainment.

In an interview with Montage Jayasinghe speaks about the film Que sera, his life and achievements.

Excerpts:

Question: What kind of exposure did you have for the film industry?

Answer: I studied at S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia. I got selected to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in 1972. The same year my father passed away. I was interested to do medicine but I was selected to follow a science degree.

As I was not interested in following a science degree, I did not continue the course. Thereafter I did accountancy and did not follow that as well until the end.

My father was a successful businessman. From the 1950s he was an importer of auto parts.

I took over my father's business and continued it after his death. If my father were alive, he would have forced me to continue my higher studies.

In school I played rugby. I was the senior Cadet and I was involved in the Sinhala literary society as well.

Film buff

I was an ardent film buff from early days. Good English films were screened in Colombo. I used to see all the movies that came to the Odeon, Mount Lavinia in the 1960s. I made it a habit of noting down all the details.

Usually the films were screened for four days. So I got the opportunity to see English movies during my school days.

I used to collect cinema posters, banners and pictures of actors. My father hated cinema. I had a hard time but I did not neglect my studies.

In 1994 I wrote a script for the film Ekada Wahi. I assigned a friend of mine to direct it. I told him specifically that I will give him the funds and the script to direct the film.

I wanted to create a simple and entertaining story for the local filmgoers. My friend took over it but finally he said that he could not do it.

Then I had to plan everything for the shooting.

Then I took the challenge of directing the film though I did not know how to do it. Finally, it became a success. People said it was one of the classiest films that they had ever seen.

Message

Q: What is the message that you are trying to give through Que Sera?

A: The story moves around a family of morticians who have been in the undertakers business for a very long time.

The business having been in operation for over a hundred years, is on the verge of collapse now. The present owner dies of a sickness leaving the business in the hands of his two unmarried daughters.

Que sera is basically a feminine movie looking at the world from their point of view. It is about how they suffer because of the flawed structure of society. The flaws affect women than men. I have touched on this throughout the story. On the surface level it is full of entertainment and fun.

Humans need to look at their own mistakes and laugh at themselves. One can be a better person in this process.

If one can look at one's own mistakes and laugh at oneself it is great. Cinema is the most powerful medium of entertainment.

Through cinema, I have brought out this message. I don't want to force this message into people but I want people to feel it. I wrote a story where I could bring a lot of satire and dark humour.

Nita Fernando plays the role of a wise woman with a beautiful and a powerful aura. The depiction of such an aura often connotes a person of particular power or holiness.

Yoshini Abeysekara plays the role of a spirit who possesses a lot of anger and wants to take revenge. At the end of the play she says that no one knows how she came to this world.

She is angry because her mother was cheated and deserted by her father. She did not receive the love and affection of a father. She is feeling jealous of her step sisters who were well looked after by her father.

The turning point in the story is where she decides to forgive those who annoyed her. At the end she decides to turn her anger and hatred into love and compassion.

This is the philosophy of the movie where I have shown that one should live with anger and burn it away.

One should live with hurt, if he is hurt and that is how one can get rid of it. If we care to look at hurt, we come to terms with it rather than running away from it.

Target audience

Q: What is your target audience?

A: My target audience consists of those who are neglected by the Sinhala film industry.

Over the past 20 years, they have gradually moved away from from cinema. I am trying to bring them back to the Sinhala cinema. I find that even the new generation has moved away from the Sinhala cinema.

Those who are bilingual are also part of my target audience.

They consider that the present Sinhala cinema as virtual trash. It is a very difficult task to convince them that we can make decent entertaining films without being stupid.

The film with nearly 30 percent of dialogue in English but with Sinhala subtitles targets an audience which had been neglected for a long time. I also think that the film is suitable for everybody.

Q: The music used for the film is quite different and the songs are interesting. The melody is catchy too. Can you say something about it?

A: The most notable feature of the film is its musical score. Veteran musician Somapala Ratnayake composed the score.

For the first time I wrote the lyrics for the song. There is a relationship between the song and the movie. One should carefully listen to the lyrics of the song to understand it.

Lyrics were a part of the dialogue in the movie. I used this technique because the songs can be treated as an intrigue part of the story.

The first song is really beautiful. It cannot be expressed in words.

The song is "I left one world and came to another world looking for happiness but where I came is worse than what it was.

So now what am I to do? I know that there is happiness somewhere else beyond the normal norms of happiness and that is what I am looking for."

The spirit of Yoshini Abeysekara in the film came from one world to another on her own accord.

She is unhappy and looking for happiness and in the process anger builds in her but she doesn't know that this anger is common to all mankind. She tries to destroy things out of shear anger.

Bridge

The tittle of the evergreen song written by the Jay Livingston and Ray Evans Que Sera, Sera or Whatever Will Be, Will Be, featured in the Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much, had made a bridge between Hollywood and Sri Lankan film industry.

The five verses in the Thovilaya were written by me.

Those verses describe the sad state in the art of the country. Satirically I am bringing out my anger.

The rotten state of the cinema is bought out and I am laughing at it.

Q: The actors have done their roles well. What do you think about it?

A: Of course, they have done their best performance. The four main characters were Hans Billimoria, Yoshini Abeysekara, Michelle Herft and Oshini Perera. They all were new to the screen but they performed really well.

Q: Are you directing any other movies?

A: Yes. I am planning to direct a movie and actually it is under process now. I am directing a movie called 'Children's musical' based on one of the legendary Hollywood movies. It will be released next year.