Mcleod's
Daughters
Two sisters separated as children are reunited when they inherit
a vast cattle property in the Australian bush. Tess and Claire
pull together an all-female workforce and, with an abundance
of heart and humour, commit to an extraordinary life at Drovers
Run.
The story
of McLeod's Daughters revolve around "Drovers Run"
which is a large cattle property 180km from the nearest town
and 400km from the city. It has been in the McLeod family
for generations, passed down from father to son.
McLeod's
Daughters is the latest tele-series to hit the popular Hallmark,
which is brought by Comet Cable. The story revovels around
the two sisters in the huge farm "Drovers Run".
Jack McLeod was running this property when his first wife
died following the birth of his daughter, Claire (Lisa Chappell).
Jack hastily remarried a fiery city girl, Ruth, who gave him
his second daughter, Tess (Bridie Carter).
The two
little girls were devoted to each other but Ruth struggled
with the solitary existence of life in the Australian bush.
When Tess was five, Ruth abandoned Drovers Run and took Tess
back to the city, leaving Jack to raise Claire alone. Tess
missed her sister terribly but soon realised she was not to
speak of their country life, so she buried the hurt and got
on with her life. The drought of the 1980s hit country properties
hard. Jack's refusal to diversify meant Drovers Run struggled
financially and accumulated a large bank overdraft. 'McLeod's
Daughters begins when Tess receives a solicitor's letter to
advise her she has inherited half the property following Jack's
death.
After
nearly 20 years of city life Tess returns to 'Drovers Run'
determined to sell her share, only to find that Claire, who
has never left the land, cannot afford to buy Tess out. Suddenly,
the outside world and a whole new way of life is forced upon
Claire. Tess reminds her she is a woman and that life is not
just about work. Claire will see her life and sense of self
completely transformed by her vivacious sister. Tess's return
to Drovers Run has a ripple effect for all who live there
- her optimism and "can do" philosophy is infectious.
Her passion for Drovers Run and love for her sister are rekindled,
and she commits to joining the all-female workforce to run
the property.
Housekeeper
Meg Fountain (Sonia Todd) is confidante to both Tess and Claire
but advisor to neither, knowing it's best to let them sort
things out themselves. Meg is the mother figure in the series
- a warm-hearted person who embraces life no matter which
way it turns.
Meg was
once Jack McLeod's secret lover and when he died her world
was rocked to the foundations, but she decided to stay on
at Drovers Run, seeing an opportunity to become an equal part
of the team and a good place for her teenage daughter Jodi
to continue growing up. Jodi (Rachael Carpani) longs for life
in the city but following her not-so-good high school results
must remain at Drovers Run and work side-by-side with the
others. She never knew her father, but has a close relationship
with Meg and feels at home on the property. Jodi's secret
ambition is to be a personal stylist. She sees it as the first
step to Hollywood and fame - she thinks she's destined to
be someone famous, an actress, a model or, at the very least,
the wife of someone rich and famous. When local girl Becky
(Jessica Napier) joins the team at Drovers Run, Jodi has a
new friend and someone to look up to.
However
Meg has concerns as Becky is escaping a difficult family life
and tarnished reputation. McLeod's Daughters is a 22-part
prime-time series that centres on the lives of these women.
It explores strong characters whose romantic, larger-than-life
stories are filled with heart-stopping action, laughter and
deep emotion.
Although
the five women carry the heart of each story, men also feature
strongly in the series.
Mano
stands with Silvermoon
Mano Silva of Dream Team and Cosmic Rays fame, who moved out
to Switzerland one and half decades ago, is back in Sri Lanka
for a short visit.
Mano is now a member of popular show band 'Silvermoon' in
Switzerland. He plays guitar, while the rest of the band members
are Christopher (bass), Stephen Meier(drums), Willie (keyboards)
and Beath (guitarist).
"
We play all dance music ,Top 40 hits and evev oldies' he said.
'Silvermoon' is based in Berne ,Switzerland and their gigs
are mostly at music festivals, parties and concerts .This
is mainaly because all the members of the band are working
and they don't have the time to perform on a regular basis.
Mano said
he has plans to do a reunion concert in Colombo with his old
mates toward the end of this year.
"We
organised concerts called Southern Cross I and Southern Cross
II, while I was in Colombo and I hope to continue with Southern
Cross III" Mano said. 'It will be a folk and country
concert' he added.
'Most
probably the Southern Cross III will feature Rohan, Jayageeth
Mihiripenna, Bandula de Silva from UK and Shammi Gunawardena'
Mano said.
Mano started
his music career with with Cosmic Rays, who are his cousins.
'It was a five-piece outfit - four of them were cousins and
an outsider' he said
He then performed with DreamTeam, Aloha, The J-Clap Band and
Breakthrough before teaming up with Russel Fernando and his
Rendezvous group for a trip to Switzerland.
It was
not a successful combination and Mano moved to Austria after
the breakup of band. Two of the members, Chitral Somapala
and Udaya Welikala, teamed up with Friends, while Mano did
stints with the Gypsies an Austrian band.
'Silvermoon'
has been in the scene for about five years, but Mano's asssociation
with them began about two-and-half-years ago.
While
on vacation in Colombo, Mano has an idea of listening to all
the bands in town before returning home, to Switzerland.
Dayan
to launch his debut CD
The well known wedding photographer Dayan Witharana who has
turned singer has decided to launch his first CD/Cassette
titled "Obey Susum Pavan" with a  collection
of his popular songs at the John de Silva Memorial Theatre
on April 30 at 5.30 p.m.
Nanda
Malini, Deepika Priyadharshini, Nirosha Virajini, Sameetha
Mudunkotuwa, Netu Adhikari and popular film star Vasanthi
Chaturani has rendered their voice to sing duets for this
CD/Cassette.
For Dayan
it was a dream come true to have sung a song with his one
and only music teacher Visharada Nanda Malini. Dayan has also
sung at Nanda Malini's "Sathya Geethaya" chrous.
Yasodha
Wimaladharma has written the lyrics for a song on this CD/Cassette
for the first time and Damith Fonseka has taken the photograph
for the cover of this CD/Cassette making it his debut.
Lyrics
for the song on this CD/Cassette has been written by Sunil
Ariyaratne, Bandula Nanayakarawasam, Vasantha Kumara Kobawaka,
Priyananda Wijesundara, Kularatne Ariyawansa, Yamuna Malini
Perera, Nilar N. Cassim, Mahinda Chandrasekera, Ravi Siriwardena,
Upul Shantha Sannasgala, Ananda Hewa Panhindage, popular photographer
Padmakumara Mettasena, Chaminda Ratnasuriya, Mahesi Wijeweera
Perera, Suneth Rupasinghe, Wimalasiri Gamlath and Yasodha
Wimaladharma.
Music
for 10 songs as this CD was done by Rohana Weerasinghe and
the other 10 songs were done by H.M. Jayawardena, Samantha
Perera, Nawaratne Gamage and Karunaratne Wijewardena.
Fan
Club on ITN
The action continues with ITN's longest running English music
programme - Fanclub - Every Tuesday at 8.30 p.m. There's in
fact more kick in the show with different guests each week.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome to fanclub@sri.lanka.net.
'Pitaah'
portrays a feudal society
"Pitaah" starring Nandita Daas of 'Fire' famed,
Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Sharoff will be screened from May 2
at the Regal cinema in Colombo for limited engagement.
Pitaah is a story of a loving father who turned violent when
his patience is taxed by outside forces.
Rudra's
family comprises his wife Paro, twin sons Luv and Kush and
a 9-year-old daughter Durga. They live in a small basti in
a village named Shikarpur situated in the Northern part of
India.
This basti
and its inhabitants are a cursed lot, ordained to work under
a despot named Thakur Avadh Narayan Singh. Thakur has made
sure that the whole basti is at his mercy and lives in fear.
The whole basti lives in the shadow of some painful memories
of the past.
Thakur's
wife remains a mute witness to his despotic ways and tries
to make him see reason whenever she can, but to no avail.
The Thakur on the other hand instills his feudal ways into
their two sons, Bachchu and Bhola, in the process making them
an arrogant duo. They follow in their father's footsteps leading
a lifestyle, which obviously makes them blind to the after
effects of the same.
On many
occasions the Thakur's atrocities do not escapes an otherwise
naive mind of Rudra. But what can he do? Nothing.....
Bachchu
and Bhola are cruising through life enjoying their escapades
obviously encouraged by Thakur while their mother watches
helplessly. On one such occasion, Bachchu and Bhola go to
a nearby village to spend the night with a Mujra Dancer. The
next morning they leave to come back to their haveli in Shikarpur,
not knowing that this journey back home is about to change
their fate.
What happens?
How does it change even Rudra and his family's life? How does
one incident change a docile father into a roaring lion?
Music
directed by Anand Raaj Anand and produced Sagoon Wagh 'Pitaah'
is presented by Avinash Adik. The movie is released by Ceylon
Entertainment Limited.
'Kadupul
Mal': Parental role in marriage
By Susitha R. Fernando
'Kadupul Mal' , the new teledrama portrays the pitfalls in
marriage and role the  parents
play in the break up of many a marriage.
This is
a tele-film in a series of teledramas telecast an Swarnavahini
channel. It is aired every Tuesday at 9 pm. Scripted and directed
by Tikiri Ratnayake 'Kadupul Mal' tackles a different story
about the causes that contribute to partners parting ways.
The main
characters in the miniplay are 'Chathura Pelpola' played by
Palitha Silva and 'Narmada' played by Semini Iddamalgoda.
Living
in the hill country popularly Chathura works as a superintendent
in a estate and Narmada is a teacher living with her mother.
They become attracted to each other.
While
the young couple are engrossed in their youthful dreams and
friendship the boy's parents propose a marriage for him from
a rich family. Caught between two worlds of Narmada and his
parents, Narmada leaves Chathura to take the decision independently;
obey the parent and contract a wealthy marriage with Waruni
or marry Narmada leaving out the parents. However Chathura
conforms to tradition by listening to his parents and gets
married to Waruni and leaves the village to settle down in
Nuwara Eliya. Having got all the comfort and happiness of
a blissful wedded life of Chathura and Waruni feel bitter
over not having a child.
Meanwhile
heart broken Narmada gets married to her cousin Prageeth and
lives happily even though they experience the pangs of poverty.
The poor couple become jubilant once they find Narmada is
in the family way. But the happiness become short lived as
Prageeth dies in an accident.
The helpless
girl obtains a transfer to another school. Narmada leaves
her child with her mother. There she meets one of her old
friends Wasanthi and resides with her. As time passes Wickrema,
a teacher on Narmada's staff begins to show an interest in
her.
But one
day Chathura meets Narmada accidentally and this sudden meeting
brings a light into Chathura's distressed married life without
a child. He tries to meet her regularly despite her objection
and more than Narmada her friend Wasanthi opposes their meeting.
Waruni hears about Chathura's new movements and repeated quarrels
take place between them and Waruni finally returns to her
parents.
What would
be the next step of Chathura's marriage? Would Narmada continue
to meet Chathura? What would happen to Wickrema? Others in
the cast of Kadupul Mal are Nimanthi Porage, Ananda Wickremage,
Susantha Chandramali, Jayantha Bopearachchi and G. R. Perera.
Young
musician Navaratne Gamage is the director of music and Manjula
Malwatte edited the camera direction of J. Nandasena in Kadupul
Mal.
'Rushmi
TV' from JVP
"Rashmi TV" an alternative television channel has
been started for the first time by the publicity division
of the JVP.
The video
channel, an alternative communication experiment would not
be aired as other television channels but would be available
in video cassettes. The cassette contains items similar to
programmes that are telecast on television channels. "Rashmi
TV" the maiden cassette include a programme titled "Alokaya"
(Light) discussing topical issues with the experts. And the
first issue is on the problem of electricity.
The video
also deals with the activities of the party named "Ape
Withthi". In addition "Rashmi TV" focuses on
political debate and our ancient heritage falling on "Sigiriya".
A special feature is the cartoons in the programme.
The publicity
Division of JVP had made arrangements to release the video
to its viewers at Rs. 500.
Further
details on "Rashmi TV" could be obtained from 198/19.
Panchikawatte Road, Colombo 10 or E-mail address niyamuwa@isplanka.lk
or the calling at 778464.
April commemoration for Sunil Santha
By D.B. Kappagoda
Sunil Santha, was one of the pioneer musicians who ventured
to develop Sinhala music whose 87 birth anniversary fell on
April 14. The Secretary of Sunil Santha Foundation, Sunil
Jayasiri had pointed out the outstanding qualities of Sunil
Santha. It was the consistency of his principles which he
strictly followed upto the time of death.
He was
born on 14, April 1915 at Kapungoda, close to Ja-Ela. His
parents named him Badda Liyanage Don Joseph John which he
changed to Sunil Shanthi and later Sunil Shantha and finally
Sunil Santha. This change was due to the influence of Kumaratunga
Munidasa's ideas on Sinhala language which came to be known
as Hela basa, which he adapted to write his own name. The
songs he sang had this style of writing.
After
leaving school, he taught for a while and proceeded to India
to study music at Vishva Bharati Bhathkanda University at
Lucknow where he received a sound training under Ustads and
perfected his vocal and instrumental music. He obtained his
Sangeeth Visharad degree in Uttara Bharathi Raghadhari Sangeetha
and later he studied Bengali music at Guru Dev Ravindranath
Tagore's Shanthiniketan.
Although
he was greatly influenced by the North Indian Raghadhari music,
he did not blindly follow it. But he experimented with some
of the Hindustani ragas and sang his early songs which brought
him popularity as a singer.
It was
then he had the chance to read Kumaratunga Munidasa's "Hela
Musiya" and decided to follow the style which came to
be known as "Deshiya Sangeetha". This changed his
career, Sunil Santha had mentioned in his book, "Deshiya
Sangeetha", giving reasons for his search for the development
of an indigenous style of music which can truly be called
our own.
Sunil
believed in assimilation of different musical idioms. He did
not believe in adhering to one style shutting out other influences.
This was because there were other songs that were in vogue
in the country.
People
were accustomed to Hindi film songs, Hindustani classical
music, Hindustani light music, Bengali music, Western music,
Baila and other forms of singing. After taking into consideration
these facts Sunil Santha wanted to draw the attention of the
listeners to his songs which he sang using different styles
composed with melodies that had a direct appeal to Sinhala
listeners.
His early
songs which he sang had the influence of Ragadhari, Bengali
and also western music. This enabled him to draw the attention
of the urban middle class who always admired western music.
Sunil in his attempt to popularise his songs adapted harmony,
chord and semi tone from western music and used them for the
first time for his singing.
The Sinhala
scholars in the calibre of Arisen Ahubudu, Hubert Dissanayake,
Merceline Jayakody, Jayantha Weerasekera, Gunapala Senadheera,
Amarasiri Gunawardana influenced Sunil Santha in his musical
career. They wrote most of his songs.
His death
on April 12, 1981 stilled the voice of the maestro who contributed
a great deal inspite of the obstacles he had to face during
his career.
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