Edwin Ariyadasa, the legendary journalist. Film director Priyankara Vittanachchi
PRIYANKARA VITTANACHCHI REMINISCES 37 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP WITH ELDER STATESMAN OF SRI LANKAN MEDIA AND FILMS
Veteran journalist and media personality Edwin Ariyadasa passed away on January 22 at the age of 98 years.
Film director Priyankaka Vittanachchi who made the award-winning film Sameege Kathawa counted him as a close friend since 1985 and looked up to him as a mentor and an elder statesman of Sinhala cinema. “There is a reason for calling him a ‘Walking Encyclopedia,'” says Priyankara, who lives in Toronto.
“He lectured to me on many aspects of films before I went to study films in the US. I was astounded to find Mr. Ariyadasa thorough with any subject, let it be cinema, television, media, religion, culture, arts, technology and current affairs and perfectly bilingual”.
Priyankara says he found a distant relationship with Mr. Ariyadasa when some of his father’s elder brother’s children began to address him as ‘Edwin Seeya’ (Granpa Edwin).
Born on December 3, 1922, in Unawatuna, Galle, Mr. Ariyadasa studied at Mahinda College Galle and the University of Ceylon, where he obtained a degree in Sinhala and English. He joined the Lake House in 1949 and worked for most of the newspapers published by Lake House, including the Daily News. He initiated Mass Communication as a higher education subject in Sri Lanka and was associated with media studies at the Open University of Sri Lanka. He was instrumental in the inauguration of the Diploma of Mass Communications at the University of Colombo.
“He was a teetotaler and never smoked. He was selfless and willing to help anybody he needed his help. I know a lot of people who exploited his good qualities. He was innocent like a child,” Priyankara said, adding that the handsome man’s striking feature was he always dressed immaculately.
Mr. Ariyadasa had extensive links with the film industry, and he was a co-writer of the Sri Gauthama Buddha Sinhala film script. “He lectured to me about subjects like the history of Sinhala cinema, the actors, acting and scriptwriting. When I visited him at his house one night, he was passionately speaking to me about Marlon Brando’s method of acting for hours,” Priyankara said, adding that he was an eloquent speaker who could hypnotize any audience with his profound intellect and ready wit.
“After I returned from my US studies, I met him at the British Council accidentally. After an absence of eight years, he recognized me instantly and spoke to me with the same old familiarity. Mr. Ariyadasa was the person who introduced me to the film fraternity in Sri Lanka, describing me as a young man who studied film making at the University of California. He made positive comments on my works, encouraging me all the way. His backing partly facilitated my stint in Sri Lanka as a film and TV director and a lecturer on scriptwriting in universities and state film corporation before I migrated to Canada.”
Mr. Ariyadasa was also the main speaker at the muhurath ceremony of Priyankara’s forth-coming film Walakulu Bemma. Another good quality he noticed was Mr. Ariyadasa never criticized anybody.
“When I went to Sri Lanka from the US, I took many films and a good sound system from Singapore. Mr. Aiyadasa was a regular visitor at our house to watch movies and have animated discussions sharing his expertise on arts.
If there was a blemish in his life, it was when he joined a person called Sakvithi Ranasinghe, a businessman in Sri Lanka who was allegedly involved in a fraud of Rs.1,060 million from his depositers.”
Priyankara says: “The man roped in Mr. Ariyadasa to work as his manager as people had great trust in him. I know definitely, he did not steal a cent from anybody. Mr. Ariyadasa was not that rich, but he earned enough money to survive until his last days from his speaking assignments and other advisory work. I believe one of his weaknesses was trusting the wrong people.”
Mr. Ariyadasa, a southerner at heart, often entertained crowds with his observations of the entrepreneurial spirit of the men hailing from down south coastal region of Sri Lanka. “He told me an adventurous story of one of his uncles known as ‘Singapore Maama’ (Singapore Uncle). This relative of his had gone to Galle Harbour many decades ago and boarded a ship telling his friends that he was going to Singapore by steamship”.
He was not sure whether his uncle, who was only dressed in a sarong and a vest, came back or not, but Mr. Ariyadasa used him as a classic example of the adventurous nature of the southern men who had spread all over the world engaged in business. Mr. Ariyadasa believed their adventurous instincts had something to do with Buddhism. The religious schools or Daham Pasals were first established in the south, and the people were firm adherents of Buddhist qualities like Uttana Weeriya (Steadfast Courage).
Priyankara’s eyes misted when he remembered a particular conversation he had with Mr. Ariyadasa. “One day, he asked me whether I was married. I replied I was single at that time, and he said, ‘you must get married, young man.’ When I asked him whether he was married, he said he was a bachelor, and he regretted his decision to stay single. After a long silence, he said I would tell you what happened later.”
“But that day never came,” Priyankara said with a lump in his throat. Somasiri Munasinghe ©newstrails.com
The writer adds: I knew Mr. Ariyadasa while I was working at Lake House. A gentleman to the core, he often visited Lake House as he worked as a consultant to some newspapers after retirement. He was a great friend of my art teacher, Mr. Joe Dambulugala, painter, film actor and art director, and I met them many times at the Pagoda Restaurant, Fort, for lively discussions.
