TV Times

TV Times

Jeewan in action after 5 years
By Ramesh Uvais
The sleepy little village in Ohiya has been in the news during the past few weeks, largely because it was the location where Sports Minister Jeewan Kumaratunga was making his return to the small screen after as many as five years.

The picturesque Ohiya area was filled with stars ranging from Jeewan, Nayana Kumari, Bimal Jayakody, Gayani Gisanthika and newcomers Thesara Jayawardena and Madhavi Karunaratne.

Jeewan’s entry into the filmworld was not a cakewalk and its admirable how he faced life’s challenges and fought fate to establish his place among the top stars today. He believes he’s today playing his innings well, not only as Sports Minister but also as a people’s star and film producer.

Jeewan still makes no bones of the fact that he had to struggle for a while before emerging as a popular star. Though he first faced the film camera in Ratnaweera de Silva’s Thani Tharuwa, the next film he acted in – Sumithra’ Peiris’ Ganga Addara was released first on August 1, 1980 and Thani Tharuwa hit the screen two years later.

Having acted as the villain in almost 15 films, Jeewan produced his own film, Hitha Honda Chandiya, paving his way to join the top rankers. Jeewan’s characters in Keli Mandala, Madu sihina, Thunweni Ehe, Sayanaye Sihinaya, Ahinsa and Shakthi are spoken about even today apart from his other glamour roles.

The Ohiya crew shooting for Mihidum Sihina is busy with their technical adjustments for the shots and Jeewan appears before us in a pure white station master’s uniform. He smilingly agrees to discuss anything and we pin him down for a mini interview. He kicks off with details about his new exciting role.

“I play the role of the Ohiya Station master and the character requires me to posssess a tough exterior. It is an eccentric role and my attitude results in a series of dramatic twists and turns in the family. It is interesting and I am enjoying every part of it. I am grateful to Producer Thushara Peiris, Director Roshan Kuruppu and the entire team for adjusting their schedules to suit my commitments,” Jeewan says.

Commenting on the current crisis in the Sinhala cinema industry, Jeewan says,” Different interpretations are given to this issue from time to time, especially during polls. But when governments are elected the enthusiasm is lost. I personally believe that the main reason is because governments are faced with more burning issues like the cost of living and unemployment. However, our government is trying to do our best to uplift the industry. President Chandrika Kumaratunga is taking personal interest in this matter and we hope to solve most of the problems by adhering to some good proposals made by Senaka Bandaranayake in 2000,” he says.

As Jeewan is wanted for the next shot, he excuses himself and reappears to explain that it’s unfair to blame film personalities who joined politics, for the current crisis in the film industry.“We did our best, but the problem is that we have to face the challenges amidst an open economy system.”

The minister who portrays a middle-aged role in Meedum Sevaneli says he’s not concerned about losing his ‘hero’ image.“I love challenging roles and that’s why I accepted the offer after so many years. We can’t expect to be the hero forever as we are too aging day by day,” he laughs.

‘Meedum Sevaneli’ is the 14th tele production of Thushara Peiris and the second directorial venture of Rohsan Kuruppu. ‘Aadaraneeya Amma’, a combined effort of Thushara and Roshan is now being telecast on ITN every Thursday at 7.30 pm.

Top