Sivamohan with many roles wins awards in cinema
Celebrated writer, multi-faceted artiste and activist Dr Sumathy Sivamohan’s latest film ‘Puththu Saha Piyavaru’ (Sons and Fathers- Thanaiyarum Thanthaiyarum), won the BEST FILM, JURY award at the World Indian Film Festival in Hyderabhad, last week.
Dr Sumathy Sivamohan
The film competed with internationally acclaimed and accomplished films like ‘My son is gay’ (India), by Lokesh Kumar, ‘Teen Aur Aadh’ (Three and a half, India), directed by Dar Gai and produced by Anurag Kashyap and Dheer Momaya, ‘The Best of All Worlds’ (Austria) directed by Adrian Goinginger and others.
Besides being a filmmaker Dr. Sivamohan is an academic, poet, translator and actress, she is currently the Professor of English at the University of Peradeniya.
Puththu Saha Piyavaru (Sons and Fathers), Sumathy’s second feature film is about two generations of Tamil musicians in the Sinhala film industry. It takes a hard look at the phenomenal social changes sweeping across the country at the end of the last century and transforming the lives of its people. The film works with new comers, S. A. Vinoj and Ranil Jithendra ( two accomplished musicians in their own right), and Amavasya Sirisena, alongside experienced actors like Bimsara Premaratne, Niranjani Shanmugarajah and others.
Music plays a critical role in the film, with Anthony Surendra, who himself makes a guest appearance, doing the score. Upulshantha Sannasgala along with Maithreyi Rajeshkumar from London, are the other two guest artistes in the film. Sumathy who carried out research for a number of years and also wrote the script is ably assisted by the director of photography, Sunil Perera, editor, Elmo Halliday, art director, Lal Harindranath and many others. ‘Puththu Saha Piyavaru’ is Sumathy’s maiden cinematic expression in Sinhala.
The film premiered at the Jaffna International Film Festival last September and is also selected for the 14th edition of the IAWRT, Asian Women’s Travelling Film Festival, Delhi. – (SRF)
