Samitha singing for her actress daughter
For the first time in Sri Lankan cinema industry a mother becomes playback singer for a daughter playing a leading role in a movie.
The famous mom is none other than Samitha, former wife of Athula Adhikari, who croons for her daughter Kavindya in the critically-acclaimed film, Gharasarpa directed by Jayantha Chandrasiri.
Kavindya is also a singer, following in the footsteps of her famous parents and when Jayantha approached her for a leading role in his film with an unusual mix of myth and reality, Kavinda declined. The main reason was the general notion in the industry that he is a tough director to work with.
Then the filmmaker approached her mother who told him that her daughter was totally new to acting, finding a vague excuse to back Kavindya’s rejection of the coveted role. “That is the very reason why I need her in my film,” Jayantha had responded, according to Kavindya. Beautiful young starlet was describing how her accidental film career took off, in a chat with Sarasaviya film weekly.
Gharasarapa has turned the young woman into an overnight sensation. She now thinks of juggling her two careers – singing and acting – side by side as she is flooded with offers to act in films and tele-dramas. Kavindya says the chance to play a lead role in the iconic director’s film is turning to be a landmark in her career.
Kelaniya University to produce feature film
For the first time in Sri Lankan history a university is planning to make a feature film. The historic project was launched by the University of Kelaniya Fine Arts Department with the participation of the first batch of the Cinema and Television Unit.
The film titled Viya Siduru will be directed by Prabath Agampodi who has also written the script. The biggest name in the cast is Thumindu Dodanthenna of Koombiyo teledrama fame, a graduate of the university now working as a lecturer.
The other actors are Kalana Gunasekera – who acts as the side kick of Thumindu in Koombiyo – Lakshman Mendis (who played D.S. Senanyake in the biopic of the first prime minister of independent Ceylon which will be released in Sri Lanka soon), Dharmapriya Dias and Shalani Tharaka. Susantha Mahalgamuwa will handle cinematography while music director will be Milinda Tennekoon.
Rapper Ashanthi going solo
Sri Lankan rapper, singer, song writer Ashanthi De Alwis, one of the two female stars of the popular Bhathiya Santhush group, has launched a solo musical career. The second of her two songs dealing with the problem of female suicides is just out. Ashanthi, the only Sri Lankan rapper to sign with international record labels Sony Music and Universal Music, was part of the massive success of Bhathiya and Santhush.
She says her new number is about complications leading to suicides of young people. The problem has become a major issue in Sri Lanka.
“Factors like unrequited love and failure in exams drive young people to commit suicide and Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of youth suicides in Asia, with a higher percentage of young women victims,” says Ashanthi who produced some solo numbers while she was with Bhathiya and Santhush. The first of her new songs, Sandewe, had notched up more than 300,000 hits in Youtube since August.
Ashanthi who sings in both Sinhala and English is a full-time musician who manages her own music school teaching music. A few months ago her career hit a temporary hiatus and social media was abuzz with the news the popular singer had dumped Bhathiya and Santush owing to unconfirmed differences. She denies the allegations saying that her ties with the duo as friendly as ever and says she took a long break conceiving her new path to music and believes that a little absence from public eye can always rejuvenate a career.
Biopic on last king of Ceylon
A historical film about the life of Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe, the last king of Sri Lanka will be directed by Devinda Kongahage. The epic titled Giriwesipura (Hill City Dwellers) will be based on the Malayali-origin last king who became the monarch of Sri Lanka in 1798 just before the invasion of the British. The movie will be based on the memoirs of Don Dias who befriended the former king while he was confined to a prison in Vellore, South India, after the British rulers banished him from Sri Lanka.
The biopic of the ancient monarch will feature the relationship between the king and the Kandy nobleman Pilimathalawe who by crafty means manipulated the dethroning of the inexperienced monarch. The Maha Adikaram’s ambition was to be the next king of Sri Lanka. Sri Wicrema was the fourth and last king of Nayakkar dynasty originating from the concubines of Sinhala kings who were imported from South India.
This will be the first Sinhala film to feature a Buddhist monk, Bibiladeniya Mahanama as the music director. Sinhala and Tamil lyrics will be written by Kongahage and Asmit Uthumalebbe respectively. The cast include Mahendra Perera, Pubudu Chathuranga, Niranjala Shanmugarja, Roshan Pilapitiya, Daya Tennekone, Juliana John Philip and Nawayuga Raj Kumar.
‘D.S. Father of Nation’ to premiere in Sri Lanka October
Sri Lankans in Toronto had a unique chance of seeing the film D.S. Father of the Nation, a biopic on the first prime minister of independent Ceylon last June before it is released in Sri Lanka.
In a media interview director Suneth Malinga Lokuhewa says the first biopic of Sinhala cinema will be released in Sri Lanka in the second week of October.
A mega production, the film has a cast of 76 actors in addition to 24 foreigners playing minor roles. Preparatory arrangements took seven years from 2010 as lot of time has been spent on research and casting, with the shooting beginning in 2017. The casting has created some snags as the producers have taken care to select actors with closest resemblance to the politicians of the corresponding period.
The shooting covered special locations in many parts of the country selected by a 12-man team who also created a plumbago mine and a rural village to suit the film which is based during the early part of the last century.
Lokuhewa says the film will be dubbed in Tamil as it features the characters of many Tamils who participated in the struggle for independence. The total production cost of the film is around Rs. 90 million excluding publicity.- newstrails.com
