PLACES, PEOPLE & PASSIONS (3Ps)

Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
chandij@sympatico.ca

Early Movies

When I was very young, my parents started taking me to see popular, animated movies produced by Walt Disney. They took me to see my first Sinhala movie when I was three. I don’t remember too much about that movie – ‘Sooraya’ except that one of the main actors was Alfred Edirimanne, a good friend of my father. A couple of years later I remember watching another Sinhala movie – ‘Daivayogaya’ which was memorable mainly because of beautiful singing by Rukmani Devi, and the first-ever movie appearance by a handsome young supporting actor – Gamini Fonseka. When one of my uncles took my elder sister and me to see ‘Kavata Andare’ at the Ritz Cinema near our house at Borella in 1960, I thought that Eddie Jayamanne was hilarious acting as the famous court jester of a Sinhala king.

‘Ranmuthu Duwa’ and ‘Dr. No’

When I was a kid my favourite Sinhala movie was ‘Ranmuthu Duwa’ (Island of Treasures). In 1962, my parents took my two sisters and myself to the Sapphire Cinema in Colombo to see this first colour full-length Sinhala movie. With a budget of Rs. 400,000, it was the most expensive movie made in Ceylon, up to that point. It broke all box office records in Ceylon and its initial run in over 20 cinemas went beyond 100 days. It also made three young actors – Gamini Fonseka, Joe Abeywickrama and Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya, mega stars. Like all my eight-year-old friends, I became an ardent fan of Gamini Fonseka, who was only 26 then.

It was co-produced by Ceylonese Shesha Palihakkara and British-American Dr. Arthur C. Clarke and directed by Canadian Mike Wilson. It showed, for the first time, the underwater wonders of the seas around Ceylon, which had barely begun to be explored. In an era when Sinhala cinema was dominated by formulaic movies influenced by popular, melodrama Indian movies and music, ‘Ranmuthu Duwa’ was a breath of fresh air and set a trend. It had only three songs (compared to an average of eight songs per Sinhala movie made since 1947), all originals that made a new generation of musicians led by Amaradeva very popular over the next few decades.

Maha Kappina Walauwa in Balapitiya

Two months after that, my father told me one evening, “Chandana, let’s go for a walk by the beach.” Our walk ended at the Savoy Cinema and he surprised me by taking me to watch ‘Dr. No,’ the first 007 movie with Sean Connery as James Bond. My father had read a few books of Ian Flemming, and explained to me that the character of James Bond was loosely based on the author’s life. From then on, I became a ‘Picture Pissa’ or a movie buff. I commenced keeping a record of all movies I watched and rated them with my own star system, rating movies between one star and five stars.

Chosen to Act in ‘Gamperaliya’

One day at Bambalapitiya Flats I was playing cricket in the backyard of the house of one of my friends, Rohitha Wickremeratne. One of his elder brothers, who was much older than us, around his mid-twenties, was involved in stage plays and movie making. Dharmasiri Wickremeratne was watching me closely and Rohitha told me that his brother would like to have a quick chat with me. “Chandana, would you like to act in a movie?” was his question.

Two days later, we had three unexpected visitors arriving at our house in the evening. Film Director Lester James Peries, Film Editor Sumithra Gunawardena and Cinematographer Willie Blake, who was a neighbour of ours, came to see me and my parents. That evening I was chosen for the role of Tissa, in the movie ‘Gamperaliya.’ I was over the moon with excitement!

Shooting on Location

Lester decided that none of the scenes of ‘Gamperaliya’ would be shot in studios. One of my scenes was filmed in the Balapiitya railway station, where my screen mother dropped me off to take the train to school. Another scene was when I was transported in the family horse cart, but due to a problem with the old horse used for that scene, Lester decided to drop that scene.

Most of the other scenes were shot at a colonial manor house of a former village headman. This house – Maha Kappina Walauwa in Balapitiya was a beautiful, large and a historic building. The whole cast stayed there for weeks. This was a novel experience for me. My father travelled with me and stayed with me during shooting periods.

Lester and Sumithra in 1962.

Directed by the Greatest Movie Director of Ceylon

Lester was a very nice gentleman and had a smooth way of directing his actors and crew. In one scene my fellow actors were engaged in a family discussion. As I was not expected to appear in that scene, I was watching the process while leaning against a pillar in the meda midula (middle garden) of the house. The master movie director looked at me and softly said: “Baba, just remain in that pose and look at your screen mother and sisters, the same way you would look at your own mother and sisters.” He then gently signalled Willie Blake to move the camera from Punya Heendeniya, Trilicia Gunawardena, and Shanthi Lekha to do a close-up of me. I did not even feel that I was acting, but that scene was memorable and very natural.

I watched Lester directing the main actor – Henry Jayasena, and then newcomers – Tony Ranasinghe and Anula Karunatilake who debuted their long and successful movie careers with ‘Gamperaliya.’ I also noticed that the director took a dozen takes of a scene when he was not satisfied. He was a perfectionist.

Lester was a bachelor at that time, but I felt that he had a special connection with his movie editor – Sumithra Gunawardena. They both were graduates of the London School of Film Technique. In 1963, a filmmaking company called Cinelanka was established with the producer of ‘Gamperaliya’ – Anton Wickramasinghe, Lester, and Sumitra as major shareholders. Lester and Sumithra married in 1964 and were together for 54 years until the demise of Lester in 2018.

Hanging out with the Greatest Novelist of Ceylon

During my second visit to Maha Kappina Walauwa, to shoot a traditional New Year scene, I was pleased to meet then 72-year-old Martin Wickramasinghe who was often acclaimed as the father of modern Sinhala literature. His novels had been translated to languages such as English, Tamil, Mandarin, Russian, Japanese, French, Dutch, Bulgarian and Romanian. Martin Wickramasinghe was a legend, and I was fortunate to meet him.

Martin Wickremasinghe’s most famous work include a trilogy of great novels commencing with ‘Gamperaliya’ (). It was written and first published in 1944. The novel depict the breakup of traditional village life in colonial Ceylon due to the impact of modernisation between the early and mid-20th century. The gradual subversion of the traditional economic and social structure of the village by the commercial culture of the city is portrayed through the story of an aristocratic family in a southern village. The novel has been widely praised for its realism in depicting Sinhala rural life and is considered one of the most important work of Sinhala literature.

Martin Wickramasinghe gave me some tips when we were playing a traditional New Year indoor game played in villages – ‘Panchi’, for a scene. He knew my father well and was impressed that at age nine, I had read some of his books. Why he took special interest in my role, my father told me, was because the character I was playing – Tissa, was loosely based on the author’s childhood. Wickrama Bogoda acted as Tissa when the character became older.

My father had heard that Martin Wickramasinghe was not pleased with Lester James Peries’s choice of cinema idol, Gamini Fonseka, for the role of Jinadasa, who marries the main character of the story, Nanda (my screen sister). The character of Jinadasa was somewhat that of a weaker person and the author felt that Gamini Fonseka appeared to be too strong for the role. Perhaps that was the reason for his arrival on location the day Gamini Fonseka was expected on the sets.

Meeting the Greatest Movie Actor of Ceylon

I was looking forward to meeting Gamini Fonseka. I remember a few special things when I met my idol for the first time. He drove a sylish sports car; he spoke perfect English and smoked a lot. Well, at that time most men smoked. Then he did three things which were memorable to me. He chatted with me and became friendly, then he jokingly lifted me, perhaps to show off his strong muscles, and then he signed my autograph album which I still treasure.

Gamini was an amazing actor. I was watching him crying in a scene when Nanda and Jinadasa’s son died at birth. Without any help, he had tears pouring from his eyes. “Gamini uses a technique known as ‘method acting’ used by actors such as Marlon Brando” my father whispered into my ear, while comparing Gamini to the best Hollywood actor at that time.

In shooting that scene, Lester did something uncharacteristic of him. He was satisfied with only two takes. Lester said, “Cut!” with a big smile. He then turned to his friend and said, “Well done, Gamini. That was simply perfect!” There was a pin-drop silence among all of us who witnessed a piece of brilliant acting by the greatest actor Ceylon/Sri Lanka was blessed to have. Martin Wickramasinghe’s grin and nodding his head, confirmed in my mind that he finally agreed with Lester’s choice for the role of Jinadasa.

‘Gamperaliya’ becoming the Greatest Sinhala Movie

In 1963, when ‘Gamperaliya’ was released, it was the turning point in Sinhala cinema, as it did away with all the formulaic elements (songs, dance, comic relief and fights) present in popular cinema at that time. It proved the viability of artistic cinema in the country and gave Sinhala cinema a previously absent sense of prestige.

Prior to its public release on December 20, 1963, ‘Gamperaliya’ competed at the third Moscow International Film Festival and won a Merit Certificate. As an actor of one of the five movies nominated for the best film of the year award at the first-ever Sarasaviya Film Awards, I was invited with my parents to the awards ceremony held at the brand-new Asoka Cinema in Colombo 14, in 1964. ‘Gamperaliya’ was judged the Best Film of the year and won seven out of 11 categories of awards.

Then came the history-making big surprise, not only for the producers of ‘Gamperaliya’ and Sinhala Cinema, but for all citizens of Ceylon. In 1965, ‘Gamperaliya’ was awarded the Golden Peacock award for the Best Film at the prestigious Third International Film Festival held in India. The festival was graded ‘A’ category by the Paris-based Federation International de Producers de Films (on par with Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Karlovy Vary and Moscow International film festivals). The festival was chaired by the greatest Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray, who famously had said that “Lester is my closest cinema relative in Asia!”

‘Gamperaliya’ also won and the Golden Head of Palanque at the Eighth World Review of Film Festivals held in Mexico and won silver at the 1967 Cork Film festival in Ireland. No other Sinhala film before that had won any international awards.

The unprecedented achievements of a Sinhala movie recorded by ‘Gamperaliya’ were celebrated in a few major events held in Ceylon, including an official event organized by the Cultural Affairs Department and the Arts Council of Ceylon. I was proud to be invited to such events.

At that event, when Anton Wickremasinghe told my father, “Ask Chandana to meet Lester at his house to collect his acting fees”, my family was surprised. We never discussed payments as it was simply an honour to appear in such a great movie and work with such an amazing crew. Several months later I walked from Bambalapitiya Flats to nearby Dickman’s Road to Lester and Sumithra’s house and collected my fee. It was Rs. 500. While handing me the envelope, Lester joked: “You know Chandana, for ‘Gamperaliya’ you were paid more than the highest paid actor in Ceylon – Gamini Fonseka!” I was surprised, but then realised that Gamini had acted free in ‘Gamperaliya’!

… To be continued next Sunday in a follow up article titled:

‘My 60-year long Movie Madness”