Sumathy’s ‘Sons and Fathers’ play the Best tune at Jaipur
Writer, filmmaker and academic Sumathy Sivamohan’s acclaimed film ‘Puththun Saha Piyavarun’ (Sons and Fathers- Thanaiyarum Thanthaiyarum) won yet another award at the Jaipur International Film Festival last week.
The film won the Best Music in the Feature Film category at the closing awards on January 22 and the music director was renowned guitarist Anthony Surendra.
In March last year the film won the BEST FILM, JURY award at the World Indian Film Festival in Hyderabhad.
Music plays a critical role in the film, with Anthony Surendra, who himself makes a guest appearance, doing the score, and the film is about two generations of Tamil musicians in the Sinhala film industry.
Sons and Fathers revolves around Tamil musician, Rex Periyasamy, one of the leading composers in Sinhala films. At the height of his career he marries Kanthi, a Sinhala woman, music in keeping with the multicultural milieu of the country’s film industry. They settle down to a life of prosperity, hopes, and dreams for themselves and their son, Lucky, and daughter, Mala. Sons and Fathers turns the creative lens upon the history of the film industry in Sri Lanka and its chequered path, by narrating the story of two generations of musicians who are caught in the whirlpool of political turbulence, the Tamil separatist war in the north and the growing anti-Tamil sentiments in the country.
The film 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.
This is the debut feature film by Sivamohan, who is also a Professor of English at the University of Peradeniya. It was premiered at the Jaffna International Film Festival in 2017 and was selected for the 14th edition of the IAWRT, Asian Women’s Travelling Film Festival, Delhi.
In 2018, it was also competed at the 2nd edition of the Singapore South Asian International Film Festival 2018 (SGSAIFF).
The film features S. A. Vinoj, Ranil Jithendra, two accomplished musicians yet fresh faces to the cinema, alongside experienced stars like Bimsara Premaratne and Niranjani Shanmugarajah.
In addition to Anthony Surendra, Upulshantha Sannasgala and Maithreyi Rajeshkumar from London, performs as guest artistes in the film.
Behind the screens, the director of photography is Sunil Perera, the editor is Elmo Halliday and the art director is Lal Harindranath.
