The wizard who waved his camera to create magic
At home last Tuesday. Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana
Paying tribute to a great artiste is an easy task. But it’s not so easy when he happens to be a dear friend. That is my dilemma in writing about D.B. Nihalsingha– best known for his skills in cinematography, but a man of many parts.
I first met him in 1965 (I can’t remember which month) the day after he returned from the UK having won the award for the Most Promising Filmmaker at the Commonwealth Film Festival held at Cardiff. He had presented a 14-minute documentary ‘Bhakthi’ –depicting Buddhist devotees. It was an experimental film shot with long focus lenses. He had used a 35mm Arriflex camera and the sound was recorded on a portable recorder. No editing machine was used. He went alone to a studio to process and print the film, and for the optical transfer of sound.
The film came first among 200 entries from 23 countries. ‘Bhakthi’ was highly acclaimed and Nihalsingha was presented with the award because “the film shows much promise in the field of documentary that is worthy of international recognition,” the citation said.
I was then on the Observer and remember writing about young Nihalsingha’s achievement. That was the beginning of the graduate in Economics from Peradeniya, who at one time was considering a career in advertising, shifting to a field that was his hobby from his schooldays at Ananda. He used to borrow a cine camera – just for the fun of it.
As an undergrad at Peradeniya, along with a few friends he made ‘Niyanda Rata’ on the fast dying mat weaving industry in the Dumbara valley. He captured the intricate workmanship of the Dumbara mats vividly and recorded the rugged life of these industrious people for posterity.
He had the guts to be in the battlefront in Vietnam as a cameraman for Metrotane News, the US-based weekly global newsreel.
Young Nihalsingha during the filming of “Sath Samudura”
He got his break in cinema when Dr. Dissanayake from Negombo decided to produce a film moving away from the Indian formula-film tradition. The producer picked University don, Dr. Siri Gunasinghe to direct the film and Nihalsingha to handle the photography and editing. The toil and labour of the fisher-folk was portrayed in ‘Sath Samudura’ (1967) in a most absorbing manner with close-ups which turned out to be a new experience for the cinema-goer. Cyril Wickremage and Denawaka Hamine stood out and music director Somadasa Elvitigala created a gem of a score that fitted in perfectly with Nihalsingha’s dramatic scenes capturing the cruelty of the sea. Amaradeva’s voice in the theme song ‘Sinindu sudu muthuvalave…’ reverberates in our ears even after 50 years.
Among the many awards won by ‘Sath Samudura’, Nihalsingha carried away the Sarasaviya Award for Best Editor in a year when there were several top-grade films. We were somewhat surprised when he was not given the award for photography which was a hallmark of the film.
‘Sath Samudura’ was adjudged No. 5 among the best films produced in the first 50 years of Sinhala cinema.
Many ‘firsts’
Nihalsingha had several ‘firsts’. He was the pioneer of the cinemascope film in Sri Lankan cinema starting with a short film ‘Keti Kathawa’, which many may not even remember. The half- hour film related an incident in the life of a young couple, played by Wickrema Bogoda and Sriyani Amarasena. Nihalsingha photographed, directed and edited the film which was a series of flashbacks.
He followed up directing the first Sinhala feature film in cinemascope – ‘Weli Kathara’(1971). His cleverness as director/cameraman was evident throughout the film. A highlight was the stellar acting of the three main characters – Gamini Fonseka as superintendent of police in the North, Joe Abeywickrema (Goring mudalali, the tough guy) and Swineetha Weerasinghe (SP’s wife). The powerful script, dialogues and screenplay were by Tissa Abeysekera.
It was hailed as an action film and highlighted Nihalsingha’s technical mastery as well as his bold effort to exploit the resources of cinema. (Profiling Sri Lankan Cinema – Wimal Dissanayake & Ashley Ratnavibhushana – 2000).
Discussing ‘50 years of Sinhala Cinema’, Gamini Haththottuwegama wrote: “ ‘Weli Kathara’ with intimate and haunting and nostalgic flashbacks trapping a secret inner drama and sweeping epically for a tense melodrama staged in a vast outdoor setting, showed how well he had grasped the romance-realism equation.”
I had by then moved over to Lever Brothers and was Product Manager for toilet soaps including Lux, ‘the beauty soap of film-stars’. Being the leading Unilever brand at the time, we got advertising filmlets from London to be screened in local cinemas (it was the pre-television era). We had a major breakthrough when London agreed to our proposal to do a filmlet locally with Nihalsingha. A scene in the film showing Swineetha being dragged along by Joe in the sandy desert was an ideal backdrop to portray a tired and mucky film-star who gets refreshed after using Lux at the end of the day.
‘Weli Kathara’was selected as one of the ten best films made in the first half century of local cinema.
A still from “Maldeniye Simion”
Nihalsingha later directed ‘Ridi Nimanya’ (1982), ‘Maldeniye Simion’ (1986) and ‘Keli Mandala’ (1991). “All three films reconfigure the lives of unfortunate people who have fallen victims to social and political oppression”, wrote Wimal Dissanayake and Ashley Ratnavibushana, who summed up Nihalsingha’s work thus: “As filmmaker he has always taken great pains to exploit the resources of cinema to communicate human experiences that would appeal to the broad mass of people. None of his films can be rated as a sustained and compelling work in terms of willed art. However, his meticulous attention to the placement of camera, camera angles, and mise-en-scene, has ensured his broad appeal. He has always subscribed to the notion that cinema would be a refined form of popular entertainment.”
I remember the busy schedule Nihalsingha had in the late 1960s after the succwess of ‘Sath Samudura’. Being a fast worker he was able to cope with the demand. It took only 20 shooting days to complete the camerawork in G.D.L. Perera’s ‘Dahasak Sithuvili’.
He always looked at doing something different. As one of the first guest directors of the Government Film Unit (GFU) he did a documentary of the Gal Oya scheme. Documentaries were rather boring stuff and he tried hard to make the story of the development of Gal Oya over 15 years an interesting one. He picked Gamini Fonseka to do the commentary. Alongside that, he shuttled between Gal Oya, Dambulla and Kandy. In Dambulla he was handling photography in ‘Binaramali’, the film version of the ever-popular radio serial ‘Muwan Pelessa’. And in Kandy he cranked the camera in ‘Paravalalu’.
I have watched Nihalsingha at work. Just as much as he worked fast, retakes were virtually unknown to him. He was so thorough and methodical. His one aim was to finish the job as quickly as possible. Of course, he was always conscious of quality.
Ahead of the times
Nihalsingha was always ahead of his time. By the time there was talk of the advent of television, he was ready. I had by then moved to Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) as Communications Manager. I remember the many hours we spent together at his little studio at Elibank Road at the rear of his ‘maha gedera’ discussing how we could work together. The first opportunity came at the early stages of ITN when there was an international cricket tour in Sri Lanka. CTC was always in the forefront of promoting sports (in fact, the one and only sponsor of every sport) and we talked about the possibility of recording each day’s play and telecasting highlights in the night. He took up the challenge. There was no sophisticated equipment at the time but Nihalsingha was ready to experiment, as always. Temporary sheds were erected at the grounds and with a minimum number of assistants, he did the job.
Commentators had been booked by state radio. So we tried new hands. Vijaya Malalasekera was one whom I distinctly remember who was over the moon when Sri Lanka (led by Bandula Warnapura, if I remember right) was once on the verge of victory. Recorded material were regularly sent to Elibank Road where his brother, Suranimala, an equally talented young man was ready to edit. The telecasts were done from Depanama, Pannipitiya. It was a tight schedule because the telecast was fixed at 9 p.m. Two cars were kept ready to rush the edited tapes – one as a back-up vehicle in case the other had mechanical problems on the way!
The history of cricket in Sri Lanka was recorded on video by CTC partnering with Nihalsingha to mark the successful effort of the Board of Control President, Minister Gamini Dissanyake. Assisting us was that veteran ‘Walking Wisden’ S.S. Perera.
By the time television really got going, Nihalsingha had established Tele-Cine Limited, the first TV production house. He scored another ‘first’ when the first teledrama, ‘Dimuthu Muthu’ introducing Devika Mihirani and Amarasiri Kalansooriya to the small screen) was produced, followed by a musical, ‘Rekha’, which brought Chandralekha and Lakshman Wijesekera to the forefront as leading singers. If my mind reads correct, he introduced Gamini Fonseka to television with the teledrama’Sudu Kalu’.
The Administrator
Nihalsingha was the youngest ever head of a government department when he was appointed Director of the Government Film Unit. He was then in his late twenties. Being a ‘doer’ he was keen to get moving with the production of films but he found financial and administrative regulations (FRs& ARs) hindering his style of management. He used to tell me how frustrated he was when the officials started quoting from these to show the job could not be done. He thought of a way out and began to ask them how it could be done. Then they showed him the loopholes! Thereafter it was plain sailing.
As the founding CEO and General Manager of the State Film Corporation (1972-78) his service was well appreciated when he took the initiative to give local film producers a better deal. The screen time alloted to locally made films was increased to 59%.
The plight of the Film Corporation was the subject of the thesis he submitted for his doctorate from the Adelaide University during a stint he was away in Malaysia with ASTRO as its general manager of Film and Television Production (1995) and later as its Executive Director of Feature Film Production. ‘Public Enterprise in Film Development-Success and Failure in Sri Lanka’ was published revealing an interesting story.
Nihalsingha’s contribution by way of training youngsters in cinematography and television production is most praiseworthy. Most of them are today seasoned filmmakers. He was also instrumental in setting up a degree course in cinematography at the Kelaniya University.
He never forgot to send me an end-of-the-year greeting card which became a collectors’ item. He always used a lovely little embroidered little doll made by girls under the guidance of his talented mother, Rathi Dhanapala with whom I always used to have a chat when I went to see Nihalsingha at Elibank Road.
As family friends we were in constant contact. His wife Kalyani was abroad and once she returned after her assignment as a senior Anaesthetist we met regularly at the Narada Centre during Dhamma discussions and ‘pinkamas’. We watched son Matheesha grow up to be a smart young man. They will miss him but will have the consolation that they spent a happy and contented time together with a fine human being.
To my bosom pal, I say ‘May your path in ‘Samsara’ be smooth and fruitful until you achieve the ultimate goal, Nirvana!’