Cameo performances in a maiden film effort by two brothers – Kala Korner by Dee Cee
View(s):Exactly two years ago I had a sneak preview of ‘Premaya Nam’ directed by the Ariyawansa brothers – Kalpana and Vindana. It was their maiden effort at filmmaking. I enjoyed the film very much. A rather unusual theme is well handled. A bold effort particularly by two newcomers. Good acting all round, even by the minor players.
As it happens with better films, they first do the international festival round before getting a place in the local circuit. It’s not the fault of the producers but the system. So the local fans wait reading about the response the film receives at festivals abroad. This always happens to Prasanna Vithanage’s films. As for ‘Premaya Nam’, it was the official selection for at least a dozen festivals.
The brothers – Kalpana & Vindana
Based on a true story, ‘Premaya Nam’ revolves round a person suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It’s a difficult theme to handle particularly in a country where mental illness is a sensitive subject often with a stigma attached.
Shyam Fernando’s portrayal of Vishwa whose prime concern is cleanliness, is outstanding. He continues from where he left off in Prasanna Vithanage’s ‘Oba Nathuva Oba Ekka’ where too he played a challenging role. Though it was, I believe his maiden role in cinema, Shyam began acting when he attended Somalatha Subasinghe’s Playhouse’ as a youngster. Recently he won the best actor award at the State Drama Festival.
In ‘Oba Nathuva Oba Ekka’ he played the role of an ex-soldier who quit the army and started a pawnbroking business in the plantations because of his guilt about shielding three colleagues who raped a Tamil girl. He meets a Tamil girl who regularly comes to pawn her jewellery, marries her but the relationship is strained after she gets to know he was in the Army.
Shyam’s role in ‘Premaya Nam’ is more complex and his determination to keep his wedded life intact after his wife leaves him, makes him try numerous ways to overcome his problem. He decides to stay in the mental institute where a nurse understands his plight and gives him confidence. He leaves the place when he realises staying there is not going to help him. He is, however, determined to follow medical advice and get back his wife.
Shyan Fernando & Samanalee Fonseka in ‘Premaya Nam’
The tolerant wife played with sympathy and understanding by Samanalee Fonseka helps to prove that “love is the prescription”, as the film’s trailer says.
A cameo by veteran actor Buddhadasa Withanachchi as the wife’s father shows he still has the old touch. So does Nimal Jayasinghe whose acting I have watched from Henry Jayasena’s Nalu Kela days. The ‘inmates’ at the Mental Institute adds a lighter side to the story.
The Ariyawansa brothers are the sons of renowned lyric writer Kularatne Ariyawansa who, over the years, has contributed much towards the enhancement of the quality of Sinhala music. All the well-known singers have appreciated his effort and sung his creations. The two young men have made full use of the knowledge gained at American institutions where they did their studies and later gained experience.
It’s good to see fresh talent gradually taking over and providing quality entertainment. I feel our audiences are also more mature now and are able to appreciate new trends so long as they are presented in a meaningful manner. The days when they waited for the songs and fights, heroes and villains are fast disappearing, it seems.