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| Sunday, 29 June 2003 |
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Features |  |
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Lucky moves into directing by Mahes Perera Taking a hiatus, so to speak, from the world of cinema, the acclaimed actor Lucky Dias has made successful explorations in the sphere of direction of two new TV dramas which commenced just recently.
The two teledramas with social conflict themes Siw Diya Dahara in 30 episodes is being telecast on Swarnavahini on Saturdays, while Suwanda Obai Amme commenced telecast on Rupavahini last Thursday. Away from the run-of-the mill themes and down to earth, Lucky Dias has used his expertise in direction to portray successfully social conflicts based on actual stories which quite naturally gives the series a great deal of authenticity. What made him into directing of TV dramas? "Actually I never wanted to be a director. I have over the years won fame as an actor but strangely like what happened when I started my acting career, this too fell into my lap since Malini Fonseka was unable to see the direction through completely. For a couple of years I was a shadow director, but now besides my acting, my directing too is official. In both dramas I play the lead roles and what is significant is that I've found myself lucky playing alongside children. In my early years such portrayals have won me acclaim. In one teledrama I'm the father who dotes on his child, while in the second one my role is a completely opposite one. I'm cruel to the child - rejecting the child, claiming illegitimacy on the part of the mother." 'Sive Diya Dahara' required filming in Frankfurt since the story revolves round a Sri Lankan pilot and Lucky Dias wishes to acknowledge the assistance given by the SriLankan Airlines in achieving authenticity. The other main roles are played by Malini Fonseka and Ravindra Randeniya. Is he happy with the finished product? "Yes. Every performer has given of his best and I had the cream of acting talent with me plus new child-star talent. I would now prefer to move into teledrama direction because as entertainment stars we owe it to the public and our cinema world is somewhat sad and stagnant at the moment largely due to manoeuvring against the system. " There are no definite safeguards. There fore producing teledramas helps the actor and director to entertain the public." ############ Language not a barrier Dharmasiri Bandaranayake's Trojan women makes impact on Jaffna audiences English translation of a Tamil review by R. Krishnakumar in Jaffna Nobody wins a war. But the war emerges victorious in shattering human civilization and culture. Yet the war has been persistent down the ages. Likewise the resistance to it too has been there from the very inception. Whether it is (fought) in ancient Greece or Sri Lanka the war has given nothing but destruction.
The play The Trojan Women written by Euripedes in 415 BC, brought out the tragic social issues created by war. Based on the plot of this play Dharmasiri Bandaranayake has written a fine play in Sinhala to suit the present day Sri Lanka. After having staged this drama more than 50 times in the southern part of Sri Lanka, he also staged this play recently at Vembadi Girl's School in Jaffna to enable the people of Jaffna to see it. The play, which portrays the atrocities of war in many dimensions, goes beyond race, religion and creed and touches the feelings common to all human beings. In the Trojan war which had been prolonged for more than ten years, all the males of troy were killed and the women left behind were taken as slaves. The play begins while they were dragged with shackles to the stage. Time may change and the countries may differ but the people who wage war are the same everywhere, which Dharmasiri Bandaranayake brings out in his play very well by making use of the techniques of Brecht to suit contemporary Sri Lanka. In the scene when the dead body of the prince was handed over to Hecuba for the performance of the last rituals (after the body being forcibly taken from his mother and grandmother), Dharmasiri Bandaranayake shows his creative talents by making the "The Trojan women" hand over the blood stained clothes one by one to the weeping Hecuba, who takes them and spread over the dead body. Nothing would happen by making the audience to become overwhelmed by emotions or rather worked up by emotions. On the contrary, if a creative work makes a person to think soberly, it achieves a lot which Dharmasiri Bandaranayake does through his play. Basically the drama is a tragedy which I thought as going to be filled with sounds of melancholy. But after seeing it my view has changed. Just like a waterfall that flows towards the river the play goes on naturally focusing on the inner heart.As the drama is written in Sinhala I entered the theatre thinking how I was going to understand it. But after seeing it I realised the language did not stand as a barrier. What can express the destruction of war more effectively than the body movements? So even looking at it from this angle Dharmasiri Bandaranayake has succeeded in producing a good play. This play being a work of art, it is important to see what makes it a great play. The blending of sound, light and music in a creative way backed up by a fine set of characters with bodily and facial expressions have made it a great play. Although all the characters in the play have done their part well. Anoja Weerasinghe who played the role of Hecuba was extraordinary. Even at the last moment, after losing everything and when Hecuba was about to be taken as a slave by her enemies with shackles on her shoulders, she carries it with the indomitable look of a queen. There was a discussion after we had seen the drama. Everyone who took part in it exchanged their views freely with thawed hearts. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake asked everyone to come out with their opinions openly. He also said that on the way to Jaffna he saw the city of Troy at Chavakachcheri. ############ Edward Jayakody's Prathibhavalokana Fans of Edward Jayakody will be feted to a musical evening by the artiste at 5.00 pm on Tuesday 1st July 2003 at the John de Silva Theatre, Colombo. This concert is to mark the 25th year of the singer's career. Music is by Rohana Weerasinghe. Marambari - a volume comprising old and new songs, Western-Oriental notes, and academic writings, plus a new CD/audio cassette titled 'Dedunu Palama' will be launched on this occasion. |
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