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| Sunday, 30 October 2005 |
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Sarasaviya Film Awards 2005
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'And the winner is...' by Aditha Dissanayake
This year's Sarasaviya Film awards, undoubtedly had all the characteristics of the movies it awards; a kaleidoscope of events inter-cut as in a film, sharply written and trimmed to the bone with most of the heart-beating, nail-biting moments as the audience awaited with hushed breath to hear the completion of the sentence "And the winner is..." presented in a rapturously gripping manner. This was surely the night all movie lovers had waited for. As the glitterati descended at the BMICH on Thursday evening it became over-whelmingly clear that here was most of the film world in one place at one time. Who wore what and how did they look? Who walked off with the most coveted awards for best film, best actor and best actresses? How did your powers of prognostication measure in predicting the winners before the event? Read on to check your score.. Welcomed by a troupe of dancing girls dressed in white and standing on the sides of the red carpet, the attire of the guests ranged from the most humble shirt and trouser to tuxedos, from seemingly ordinary black dresses to glittering gold saris said to cost over hundred thousand rupees; the array of the dresses ranged from the simple white sari worn by Nanda Malini to Yasoda Wimaladarma's light orange, from the coat-clad Sanath Gunathilake and Kamal Addararachchi to smart but casual shirts worn by Prof. Carlo Fonseka and Jayalath Manoratne. The events started off with a brief welcoming address made by Ravindra Randeniya, who was lifted hither and thither on the stage in a crane. Next came the tribute paid to Goddess Saraswathi with Dr. W.D Amaradeva's voice rendering "Saraswathi Devi" adding a sense of depth to the proceedings. The first awards of the night were the ones given to the most popular actor and actress, bagged this year by Ranjan Ramanayake and Anarkali Akarsha and the most popular movie, Soorya Arana. After the members of the Jury were revealed, and their decisions were placed in the pigeon-holes on the right side of the stage, began the event proper. The awards for the best rising stars went to Arjuna Kamalanath and Chaturika Peiris. Next came the awards for Best Make-up Artiste, Ebert Wijesinghe (Sooriya Arana), Best Art Direction Chandraguptha Thenuwara (Mille Soya),Best Female Playback Singer, Deepika Priyadharshini (Adaraneeya Wassanaya) and Best Male Playback Singer, Amarasiri Peiris (Rajjumala), Mahendra Perera bagged the award for Best Supporting Actor while Grace Ariyawimal received the award for Best Supporting Actress for their roles in Randiya Dahara and Gini Kirilli, respectively. The award for the Best Screenplay went to Sarath Dharmasiri ( Gini Kirilli). Ravindra Guruge was adjudged Best editor. Followed by a poignant screening of clips from their movies, actress Anula Karunatilaka and director Tissa Abeysekere were presented with the Rana Thisara awards for their invaluable contributions made to the local cinema. Two special Jury awards were given to Navaratna Gamage and Senesh Dissanayake (Adaraneeya Wassanaya) while Vimukthi Jayasundara, Director of the controversial movie, now withdrawn from the theaters, Sulanga Enu Pinisa (Forsaken Land) received a Wishwa Prasadenee award. The biggest prize of the night was revealed at the very end. Unlike in some years in the past, when it was easier to spot a winner than the losers, at this years awards there were plenty of worthy nominees but no clear cut favorites. Amidst much speculation, the award went to Buddhi Keerthisena's Mille Soya, for the Best Film, competing against Soorya Arana, Rajjumala, Randiya Dahara, Diya Yata Gindara, Gini Kirilli and Adaraniya Wassanaya. The awards for Best Actor and Actress however, were bagged by Jakson Anthony and Geetha Kumarasinghe for their roles in Randiya Dahara. With the patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Indian Songstress Jamuna Rani as the guest of honor, ANCL Chairman Janadasa Peiris, in his speech revealed a special surprise... an event to look forward to, next year, the movie lovers will be treated to an International Film Festival. In conclusion, this year's Sarasaviya Awards, filled with visual magic, imagination, orientated and precise is bound to leave an indelible mark in the history of the local film industry. Guest of Honour Jamuna Rani
Remember the lines "Pem kekula pipee ena vite mahade eya paravagiya..." or "Jeevana me gamana sansare...? If you were born before the 1950s you sure will. Not only would you remember them, but be able to hum them too if you hear them again. And not only hum them, but recall the past with a faraway look in your eyes... feel once more the bitter sweet memories of a first love or the heady excitement of playing truant from school to be at the cinema or be indignant you were punished for presenting a highly inappropriate love song at the school assembly. Nostalgia for the older generation, fascination for the younger. Jamuna Rani, the Indian songstress was here last Monday, to reawaken the past, to sing once more the Sinhala songs she sang for the cinema as a background singer in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as the Guest of Honour at the 30th Sarasaviya Film Awards. Born on May 17th , 1938, as the daughter of K. Varadarajulu, an officer in a private company, and K. Droupathy, herself a violinist, Jamuna Rani recalls being interested in music from early childhood. She remembers vividly how she sang her first song for the Telugu movie called Thyagayya at the age of seven. By the time she was thirteen she was doing background singing for heroines of movies like "Valayapathy", and had become a popular vocalist before she turned eighteen with hits like 'Asauym Ennesamum... in the Tamil film "Gulebakaavali". Having sung over 6000 songs till now in various languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, she says she sang her first Sinhala song for the movie 'Sujatha" in 1953. Produced by Sri Gunaratnam and T.R Sundaram the songs in the movie, i.e Premalokaya nivee giyaa and Prema gange became top hits among the Sri Lankan cinema lovers. Among the other movies for which she did background singing are 'Sada Sulang", Vana Mohini, Suraya, Mathalang and Varada Kaageda. Confessing "Ayubowan" is the only Sinhala word she knows, Jamuna Rani says she writes the words she sings in Telugu, her mother tongue. She is grateful to Ananda Samarakoon for helping her with the Sinhala pronunciation. "He sat beside me and taught me how to pronounce the words in "Pem kekula pipe, word by word. He and Latha Valpola helped me when I started to sing Sinhala songs". Having traveled all over the world from Singapore to South Africa, from France to Canada to participate in musical shows and cultural programs she says she is happy and feels deeply satisfied with the applause and appreciation she receives from the audience of other countries. Even though she would like to introduce her Sinhala songs to her fans in India, she says Indian music lovers are used to listening to Tamil, Telugu or Hindi songs and may not understand Sinhala songs. Grateful for her fans in Sri Lanka she reiterated, "Let me tell you this, Indian fans would not have accepted a Sri Lankan playback singer in India the way Sri Lankans have accepted me and the songs I have sung for Sri Lankan movies". Asked how she feels about the present playback singing in the Sri Lankan Cinema, she said she cannot make a comment as she has not seen a single current movie made in Sri Lanka. Answering the question if she would accept an invitation to sing for a movie again she laughed and said she certainly would like to sing again if such an invitation came her way, but also added that this is highly unlikely. As an artiste who has devoted her entire life to music, and whose contributions to the Sinhala cinema in its infancy is invaluable, the presence of Jamuna Rani as the Guest of Honour at the Sarasaviya Awards 2005, marks this years awards ceremony as one which would create an indelible niche in the history of the world of moving images - the Cinema. - Aditha |
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