Master at conveying human conflict
He was junior to me at Peradeniya campus. But we were colleagues at Lake House in the 1960s. Both of us were on the Dinamina editorial staff. We had parted company by the end of the ‘60s – he moved over to film-making, I joined the corporate sector. But we were in touch right through and I never missed a single of his films.Being always interested in writing, Vasantha Obeysekera got his opportunity when Dr. Siri Gunasinghe, the young university lecturer during our time at Peradeniya, started ‘Sath Samudura’ (1967), the highly acclaimed film. Vasantha was co-script writer with Dr Siri and lent a hand in direction too.
Vasantha looked for fresh talent for his films. He preferred to pick talented stage actors. Playing the lead roles in the first film he directed – ‘Ves Gaththo’ in 1970 were Cyril Wickremage, Somasiri Dehipitiya (both were impressive in ‘Sath Samudura’) and Wimal Kumara de Costa. ‘Ves Gaththo’ highlighted the differences in outlook, priorities and life styles between the upper and lower classes in Sri Lankan society. That was the start of his search for social issues and human conflicts in conveying a message through cinema.
The disappointments and frustrations of rural unemployed youth was the theme of his second film, ‘Valmathwuvo’ (1976). In the same year, his third effort, ‘Diyamanthi’ was also released.
While the films were well received, it was in ‘Palangatiyo’ (1979) that he made his mark as a filmmaker to be reckoned with. Listed number seven among the best Sinhala films produced in the first 50 years of the local film industry, it projected the frustration of youth and was rated by critics as among his more memorable creations. Continuing his search for better actors from stage for his films, Vasantha got Dharmasiri Bandaranayake to play the lead with Dhammi Fonseka and among others in the cast were Henry Jayasena, Mercy Edirisinghe and Denawaka Hamine all of whom were well-known stage players. Vasantha won the Presidential Awards for Best Director & Best Script Writer.
In his film career of nearly four decades Vasantha had the knack of picking up interesting themes. Most of them were based on true stories. Once he located an incident, often through a newspaper report, he would thoroughly investigate it. His research often took months. After collecting all the facts he would thread the missing links and sit down to write the screenplay. “I then go into great detail shot by shot, frame by frame, to prepare an exhaustive document. It takes time but makes my job much easier once we start shooting,” he once told me.
The killing of Adeline Vitharana was one of the most talked-about gruesome murders in that era and there was a lot of excitement when Vasantha made that the theme for his next film, ‘Dadayama’ (1998). Ravindra Randeniya and Swarna Mallawaarachchi turned out two memorable performances which brought them the Best Actor & Best Actress awards. Vasantha was adjudged the Best Director at both Presidential and Sarasaviya Awards. The film was number 8 among the best films. At an interview not so long ago, Ravindra Randeniya recalled how Vasantha gave him the script and warned him that his was a character which would make him very unpopular with the fans. “After going through the script I was quite happy to do the role and I enjoyed working with Vasantha who is a very good teacher,” he said.
“Obeysekera has succeeded in selecting a true story, and investigating it cinematically so as to map symbolically the contours of male desire and the deeper truths that are hidden behind the masks that civilization wears. The director is focussing on the lineaments of a society where human relationships are alternately traversed by forces of creativity and destruction. The crucial insight of the movie serves to underline the need to create a society where men and women are transparent to each other, so as to pave the way for emotionally and morally fulfilling lives.” (‘Profiling Sri Lankan Cinema’ – Wimal Dissanayake & Anura Ratnavibhushana 2000)
Equally sensational was the story of a newly married couple meeting with a fatal accident in Kandy in the wee hours of the day after their honeymoon. The car hit a mara tree and both were killed instantly. Vasantha became very curious to find out exactly what had happened. He wondered: Was it a plain and simple accident? Was it suicide? Was it homicide? He spent months digging up information about the two people and their background. He made ‘Dorakada Marava’ (1998) based on this story. His choice for the lead roles were Sanath Gunatilleka and Sangeetha Weeraratne.
Calling Vasantha, “a creative experimentalist in cinema”, Gamini Haththotuwegama commented that the first three decades of his filmmaking career marked a steady graduation from innocent endeavour to pregnant achievement. “He is in my opinion the most wisely and securely placed of our directors. He seems to be mastering what others are furiously and with extreme bother and strain muscling to achieve. His films have no difficulty in carrying the ‘art’ to mass audiences. In terms of cinematic dramaturgy tuned to social and personal utterance his blending seems right, and even rich,” he wrote.
After his active film-making career I used to often meet him while doing a brisk walk in Bambalapitiya close to Lauries Road where he resided. Thereafter I had not met him for several years and I was happy to see him walk up to collect the Swarna Singha Award at the Presidential Film Awards recently for his valuable contribution to cinema. It was a well-deserved recognition though it should have come to him much earlier.
Though he has departed Vasantha Obeysekera will be long remembered for the vital role he played towards improving the quality of Sri Lankan cinema.