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'Kolamba
Rathri' to break new ground The producer
thinks there will be a market for it in other countries too. The
film is based on a story written by Srimal Sathyajith and screenplay
written by Sanath Samaranayake. Others in the technical crew are
Ajantha Alahakoon and Roshan Neththikumara as art directors and
make up artist is Kumara Galahitiyawa. The drama revolves
around two aspects of society-the underworld and urban society.
This will be an unusual drama as it will explore and depict characters
that give rise to speculations and gossip in the modern world. A
capable cast which include Roger Seneviratne, Sasanthi Jayasekera,
Roshan Pilapitiya, Ranjith Rubasinghe, Nalin Pradeep Udawela, Anusha
Damayanthi and Rebeca Nirmali will surely do justice to the unusual
characters as they come to live on the mini screen. And there are
six main roles played by these artistes. Srimal, who also had introduced
Dilani Abeywardena to the field, will bring a number of new faces
with his latest direction too. Filmed entirely
in Colombo the audience will be able to see the city as never before.
The action fans will be catered for with an abundance of helicopters
and fast moving luxury vehicles. The telefilm
will initially run to twenty episodes and later it will expand to
fifty-two episodes in all. The director
Srimal Sathyajith who had gained experience in the television field
since 1982, speaking on his newest directorial effort said 'Kolamba
Rathriya' is completely a commercial teledrama. Having joined Sri
Lanka Rupavahini Corporation in the year 1982 as a production assistant
had later joined the late Lalith Athulathmudali's media section.
It was during that time Srimal made his maiden minifilm titled 'Samanthi'
a one episodic teledrama for Mahapola propaganda. Later he had
gone to India and had worked as a 'visual director'. Srimal was
also the pioneer behind "Sahasra Yathra", a vast television
production done for Swarnavahini for the new millennium. The story being
made around underworld activities and Asian politics, which are
common to both here and India Kolamba Rathri would suit well the
audience in both countries. He said this is one of the reasons why he concentrated on directing a commercial film. This teledrama will include a number of songs sung by Chandana Liyanarachchi, Sashika Nisanasala, Roger Seneviratne and Uresha Ravihari to the lyrics of Hemasiri Halpita and Mahinda K. Premasiri. Music is by Sarath De Alwis. New
concept 'Cinecity' soon in Maradana 'Cinecity'
comprising four hi- tech cinema theatres and other facilities like
restaurant, a gift centre and a colour laboratory will be a unique
experience for the moviegoers. Speaking on
this project, its pioneer, Buddhi Keerthisena said multiplex is
the latest invention to overcome the challenges of television to
the cinema. The four theatres
with all the latest facilities have less number of seats compared
to other film theatres. "We have no idea to build big theatres
and keep 60 to 65 % of them empty". The Cinecity has four theatres
with two on the ground floor with 340 and 310 seats and two upstairs
with 240 and 120 seats. Two of these cinemas will be opened this
month and the others in December. The other facility
of several cinemas being under one roof is that initial release
of the films could be done in the theatres with a larger capacity
of seats and after sometime they could be shifted to a theatre with
lesser seats. "This
could be a solution for the films being taken away from theatres
due to the poor attendance and resulting problems between the film
corporation, film producers and the theatre owners", Mr. Keerthisena
said. The concept
also lessens the publicity cost when shifting to a completely new
cinema hall. "Several
theatres under one roof will provide the opportunity for a family
outing, as the whole family can come to enjoy the films of their
interest and a good meal before getting back home together"
Mr. Keerthisena explained. Going back
to the initial stage of this idea, Mr. Keerthisena said nobody understood
the concept at the beginning and therefore there was no one to encourage
him. "However
I forwarded the idea to the late President Premadasa, who had a
similar idea to bring back the old film heritage in Maradana and
to replace the cinemas, which were there and were lost several years
ago due to many reasons." Buddhi explained. Maradana provided
a golden era for films the 1960s. There were about six cinemas situated
close to each other in the heart of the town. But most of these
cinemas were closed down due to reasons other than poor attendance.
'Gamini' theatre was burnt down and Elphinstone and Tower Hall were
transformed into stage threatres. "This
vacuum for the cinemas still exists," echoed Mr. Keerthisena. Other important
features of this location is that it has linkage for transport to
all the parts of the surrounding areas of Colombo. In addition,
the population in the area also has encouraged the success of cinemas
in Maradana. It is a highly congested area with multi-national,
multi-cultural and multi-linguistic people. Looking back
on the idea of building theatres Mr. Keerhtisena went back to his
childhood. "I still
have refreshing memories of my childhood connected to the cinema.
I used to go to a old theatre named "Violet Cinema" close
to the house of my grandfather in Koswadiya ". However Mr.
Keerthisena was able to build a cinema of his own in the same area
baptising it as Dharsena cinema later. Mr. Keerthisena
who is also a successful film producer for whom the highest achievement
in making theatres is the completion of 'Cinecity' which has taken
nearly 10 years. "The project
took such a long time due to the lack of support from others. I
did not have anything to start this project. But I am happy I have
succeeded," Mr. Keerthisena said. However he was thankful to
former Chairman of the National Film Corporation, Tissa Abeysekera
and Martin Fernando of People's Bank who later came to his rescue.
The other important
feature is the provision of ample space for seating and movement
around. This multiplex
cinema will provide the latest technology like Digital sound systems
and screens with latest improvements to screen Sinhala films for
the first time. One theatre
will be set aside to screen films of Film Corporation circuit while
others will screen English, Hindi or Tamil films imported by other
individual film distributors. Questioned
about the standards of the films screened Mr. Keerthisena said "we
will not screen low grade sex films in any of the cinemas because
our target is family entertainment". "But this would not
affect the high standards local or foreign films with love scenes"
he added. Like in other
super cinemas in Colombo the Cinecity theatres too would not provide
balcony seating but a ticket in any of the four cinemas will cost
Rs 150. In addition
to watching films Cinecity would provide other facilities like restaurant,
reception hall, communication center and a video parlour and it
will also has the facility to park over 100 vehicles. "What we want to give our filmgoers is the best in Sri Lanka to view films and there by develop the industry" Buddhi Keerthisena said in conclusion. 'Wind
Bird' flying high in Italy The films which
were selected for the last round was judged on different themes
and the film was catogarised into the 'socio politics' section and
the film won the jury award of silver merit. Having selected
the jury in its mention stated, "For the humanism created beyond
cultural and political boundaries portrayed in cinematography".
"Sulang
Kirilli" will also be screened at the final round of the 12th
International Film Festival, Innsbruck to be held from June 18 to
22. Eight films from Southern Latin America, Central Asia, the Indian
subcontinent and the Maghreb countries have been chosen for the
final round. An independent jury will judge the competition and
one prominent member of this is Australian director Andrea Maria
Dusl. Among the other internationally famed film directors from
France, Spain, Italy and Argentina whose films have been selected
for the final round is popular Indian director Shaji N. Karun. Inoka who is
satisfied with her achievement of being selected for the final round
said she was happy her film was selected along with Mr. Karun's
work. She also said she had the rare opportunity to learn about
the cinema under this very director a few years ago. Among other
international recognitions, the film earlier won two awards including
OCIC award for the Best Film and Director's first film at the 21st
Cinemateca del Uruguay- Latin American International film festival
and was chosen for the final round of the official participation
in "Women in the Director's Chair" section at Chicago
International Film Festival- USA. It also represented
Sri Lanka for the first time and was selected for the first 12 films
at Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan. This is one of the
five 'Grade A' category foreign film festivals. In addition
'Sulang Kirilli' was also selected for six other festivals and it
was chosen as one of the best five films in the Competitive section
at the 33rd New Delhi International Film Festival. The story of
Sulang Kirilli is based on a true story of a girl who had come all
the way from the village in search of a job in a garment factory.
Isolated in a complex society the story depicts the social and human
problems she faces. The two leading
roles are played by Linton Semage and Damitha Abeyratne. The film is
to be released on CEL circuit soon. |
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Ltd. All rights reserved. |
the
end of this month in Maradana. 
