Aloko Udapadi:
An epic biopic
By Dr. Edwin Ariyadasa
“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain
always a child. History is the witness of the times, the torch of truth,
the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity”.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
(106-43 BC)
- Roman Statesman
The expression “biopic” is a neologism, that has entered into the
international discourse on cinema, in fairly recent times. The arrival
of this term, in contemporary film colloquies, has been determined by a
perceptibly prominent cinematic trend.
A significant number of films, built around the lives of historical
personalities or exceptional individuals, has begun to rise into high
profile at film festivals, award presentations and in many instances, at
box office as well.
Hollywood-still a global trendsetter in cinema (at least obliquely or
reluctantly) ostentatiously embraces the ‘biopic’ genre at highly
significant moments. (Incidentally, as the dictionary defines it,
‘biopic’ implies ‘a film or movie about the life of a particular
person’).
Historical era
Very often, a biopic is quite likely to have a historical era, as its
backdrop. This enables the elaboration of the story with an impressive
vividness, as the past period in which it takes place has to be
dramatically recreated.
The glamour of the by-gone days, engenders an exotic appeal in the
viewer. This explains the escalating popularity of the biopic mode. In
Sri Lanka, the biopic genre possesses several dimensions of mass appeal.
It appeals to their sense of profound patriotism. Invariably, the
spiritually moving, for most filmgoers.
This is specifically true of the average Sri Lankan biopic. Most of
the central characters in Sri Lankan films of this genre, possess at
least a touch of spiritual heroism, since there is hardly any other
country that can yield such a plethora of patriotic and spiritual
heroes, as Sri Lanka’s long history is capable of.
Strangely enough, in spite of the presence of such a rich and
astonishing mother lode of pre-eminent characters, exceptionally
suitable for epic biopics, hardly a decade has passed since our
film-makers discovered this genre.
Personalities
“Aba” is a pioneering cinematic effort in this category. This was
quickly followed by a whole series of films, centering on personalities,
stupendously larger than life. Among these, the epic biopic Sri
Siddhartha Gautama escalated to a height, that has not been paralleled
yet.
The glamour, the mass appeal and even the material gains ensured by
this kind of film, resulted in the appearance of an enticing parade of
biopics, in quick succession. ‘Vijaya and Kuveni’, ‘Mahindagamanaya’ and
the most recent ‘Maharaja Gemunu’ are impressive cases in point.
But, these observations are a mere preamble to introduce one of the
latest Sri Lankan biopics, that, to my mind, would register a stirring
impact on all those, to whom cinema seriously matters.
Alien invasions
Titled Aloko Udapadi (Light Arose), this cinematic work represents
the wholesome synthesis of variegated abilities of a group of
individuals, distinguished by their unswerving commitment to their
avowed creative task.
The central personality of the film is King Walagamba, who ruled the
country in two separate sessions. His first session lasted merely five
months, as alien invasions drove him to temporary exile. Vanquishing the
invaders, he returned to the throne in 29 B.C. and ruled the land for 12
years until 17 B.C.
Our traditional historians, have not been able to recognise and
assess adequately, the role played by King Walagamba (Vattagamini Abhaya)
in the history of this land.
He began his rule, at one of the darkest hours in Sri Lankan history,
when the peace and harmony of the land were threatened almost to the
point of their non-existence. He restored those values, an extended
patronage to an event, that has had a lasting impact on the totality of
mankind’s culture.
He had the teachings of the Buddha, committed into writing, to
counter its possible disappearance, after it had been brought down by
oral tradition for 38 generations.
The biopic epic Aloko Udapadi, presents this momentous human triumph,
in an unparalleled audio-visual idiom. This is in high contrast to the
generality of Sri Lankan film-stories, which tend, by an large, to
cleave to a form of literary idiom, rather than an audio-visual style of
presentation.
Outcome
This praiseworthy outcome has been possible, primarily because of the
creative utilisation of the sustained audio-visual training and
discipline of its young director Chatra Weeraman.
He earned his Bachelor of Multi-Media Degree, with first class
Honours in Film and Animation at the Multimedia University of Malaysia.
He won several international awards for his work, but luckily for Sri
Lankan cinema, he did not yield to the temptation to seek his film
fortunes at the Global Cinema Shrine Hollywood.
His co-director, Baratha Gihan Hettiarachchi, shares his director’s
qualifications. And, these two young people, have proved a duo of talent
repositories, which could fully blossom forth, ushering in a new and
genuinely cinematic period of film creation in Sri Lanka.
A versatile personality of Sri Lanka’s film-field Saman Weeraman
guided the production to exceptional success, as script-writer and
consultant director.
All told, Aloko Udapadi, is an exceptionally beautiful moment in Sri
Lanka’s film history. The meticulous – utterly committed contribution of
all those involved in the making of Aloko Udapadi has provided the Sri
Lanka film-goer the blessed opportunity of viewing a truly cinematic
work, whose aesthetic impression gets embedded in the inner recesses of
the spectator’s soul.
Universal
Thematically, it’s universal. The quintessential core of the film is
the writing down of the Buddha word.
This is an outstanding event in the whole of human culture. The
selfless commitment of the Bhikkhus who had memorised the Buddha’s word,
is cinematically chronicled as a homage to the Bhikkhus, who played the
role of custodian of the Dhamma, with no thought of their own lives.
But in a way, the hero of this epoch – making film is its producer –
Thusitha Wijayasena. He has made an investment to elevate the spiritual
and cultural well-being of generations to come.
He has admirably eschewed the opportunity to earn quick shekels,
through a commercial investment. Besides, he never, even minutely
interfered with the decision of the creators of the film.
When Aloko Udapadi dawns in the public domain, the filmgoer will
experience a profound cinematic ecstasy.
When the Buddha’s word was committed with writing under the patronage
of King Walagamba, the resultant ola leaf books stood, nine-elephants’
high. When the discriminating viewers exult at the work – celebrating
contributions by actors, actresses, lyricists and other artistes – their
praises may not stand that high. But, the filmgoer will invariably
experience a fresh aesthetic joy. |