Siva with late Lester James Peiris who autographs a copy of his biography for Siva
By Somasiri Munasinghe
Toronto-based Sri Lankan film director S. Sivananandan talks about his Sinhala film Oba Dutu Da (The Day I Saw You) so emotionally like he is talking about a lost relative.
Sinhala film number 142 made in 1966, produced by K. Gunaratnam of Cinemas Limited, starring the two hottest heartthrobs of the time, Gamini Fonseka and Jeevarani Kurukulasooriya, was destroyed when the Vijaya Studios in Hendala was burnt down in 1983 ethnic riots, Siva said in an interview with www.newstrails.com.
It is one of hundreds of Sinhala films lost during the senseless violence destroying part of our history and heritage captured on celluloid. Today, this landmark film which won the best actress award for veteran Iranganie Serasinghe, and was selected as one of the best five films of 1967 by Sarasaviya Film Festival, is reduced to a few words on the internet, if you care to Google the name.
Siva Sivananadan popularly known as Siva, still regrets his failure to keep at least one copy of his debut film with him. “I directed Oba Dutu Da soon after working as the second line director of very popular Deewarayo. Mr. Rameshwaran who worked as a director of Cinemas Limited suggested my name to direct the film based on a novel titled Unshaken Loyalty written by popular British romance fiction writer Denis Robins. The film became a hit,” says unsung hero Siva who has half a century association with the Sinhala film industry in technical and administrative capacity.
The film may be one of the few Sinhala films based on an English work of fiction. Denis Robins (1897-1985) was a prolific writer who wrote 170 Gothic romance novels.
Siva who worked for Cinemas Limited under K. Gunaratnam began his career in films as a publicity officer immediately after leaving Aquinas College, and later held many important positions in the company. He is associated with the industry from the days when South Indian artistes called the shots and spent the last ten years of his career in Sri Lanka as the Assistant General Manager of the State Film Corporation – a period which was known as the golden era of Sinhala films – lending his expertise gained in the rough and tumble of the national cinema before he migrated to Canada.
Siva describes his former boss Gunaratnam as a giant of early Sinhala cinema. “He began by dubbing Indian films into Sinhala and produced some well known films like Sujatha, Radala Piriluwa and Saradam – Joe Abeywickrema’s debut. Despite his penchant for producing commercial hits one after another, he also produced critically acclaimed films like Sandeshaya and Deewarayo”.
Many of Dr. Lester James Peiris’ works too became victims of ethnic riots. According to reports the last remaining copy of Sandeshaya can be found in a museum in Portugal. The film was based on the happenings of a village during the time of Portuguese occupation in Ceylon.
Siva, a perfect trilingual who learnt his Sinhala under legendary poet Sagara Palansooriya (KAES) directed some of the biggest stars in Oba Dutu Da. Apart from Gamini, Jeevarani and Iranganie, the film also featured Sandhya Kumari, Hugo Fernando, Anthony C. Perera, B.S. Perera, M.V. Balan, Herbert Amarawickrama, Bandu Gunasekera, Roy Handapangoda, Richard Albert and Sonia Disa. K.A.W. Perera was the screenwriter while R. Muttusamy directed music.
Talking about Dheewarayo which remained as the highest grossing film for several decades, Siva says it was an unexpected hit. “The main reason for its massive success was its comedy, its chart topping songs which are still very popular, and its unusual love story based on a community of fishermen. The film had no proper script. Master Hugo is credited as the dialogue writer. It was clean fun and entertainment without a single word with double meanings, a tactic some films used later to attract the audience,” Siva says adding that Hugo Fernando wrote the dialogues featuring him in all the scenes. But some of his scenes were edited out at the cutting table. Dheewarayo was directed by M. Masthan.
Siva, a close friend of film personalities of his generation still keeps in touch with Sinhala artistes, and visits them whenever he goes to Sri Lanka on vacation. During his last visit he met director Lester James Peiris and D.B. Nihalsinghe and several other artistes, some of whom are still active in films. Nihalsinghe, an excellent cinematographer known for his iconic films like Weli Kathara, Maldeniya Simion and Keli Madala dedicated an entire chapter of his book on Sinhala cinema to Siva’s contribution to the national film industry.
