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Kala Korner - by Dee Cee

He played the most difficult roles in Lester's films
As tributes came flowing in on Gamini Fonseka's contribution to Sri Lankan cinema, I spoke to the doyen, Lester James Peries on his relationship with Gamini. The beginning of Gamini's cinematic career was in 'Rekawa' assisting Lester. After the sensational start Gamini made in 'Sandesaya' as an actor, he was in great demand. "When I selected him for Jinadasa's role in 'Gamperaliya', it was the most unacceptable casting. Author Martin Wickremasinghe was not at all happy. But I was confident he would play the role well. And he did," Lester said.

"When I decided to do 'Nidhanaya' in the early seventies, I was convinced that the only man who could play the role of Willie Abeynayake was Gamini. But to get dates for shooting was a huge problem. He was so busy. It took eight months to schedule - yet I didn't mind because I wanted him and Malini Fonseka for the lead roles," Lester said. For Gamini it would have been, in a way, relief from the physically demanding roles he was playing throughout the sixties.

And then Lester wanted him to play Simon Kabalana in 'Yuganthaya' (1985). That was the time Gamini had virtually abandoned the cinema and was leading a quiet life away it from all. "I was again determined to get him to play this role which was a very challenging one - that of a business tycoon in conflict with his son (Richard de Zoysa), a revolutionary. I managed to convince him and he obliged."

Lester says that he had given Gamini the three most difficult roles in his films. "They all demanded the talent of a great actor. His perfect style for each character made it a treat to direct him," Lester reminisced. "He could rank with any of the greatest actors anywhere in the world," was Lester's verdict on Gamini.

Congrats, Siva!
It's not often that one gets a chance of paying tribute to a fellow columnist K.S. Sivakumaran (of 'Gleanings' fame) was among eight Tamil scholars who were being recognized at the Provincial Tamil Literary Festival organized by the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Northeast Province over the weekend.

The eight were recipients of the Governor's Award 2004. Apart from Siva, as we all call him, there was a woman short story writer 'Kunthavai' (Ira. Sadadchara Devi), S.L.M. Hanifa( a short story writer from the east), Kulanthai M.Shanmugalingam ( an innovative dramatist and actor from Jaffna ) and Vyramuttu Subramaniam, M.Kanagasabai and P. Stanislaus.

Siva has been writing since the early 1960s and introduced the non-Tamil speaking readers to Lankan Tamil literature through his regular columns in English newspapers and his two books in English, 'Tamil Writing in Sri Lanka' and 'Aspects of Culture in Sri Lanka : Le Roy Robinson in conversation with K.S. Sivakumaran '.
In fact, he has 14 books in Tamil to his credit - two of them collections of short stories.
He has also written a book on the Grammar of Cinema and on Literary Criticism, which is his forte.

Your next life
Rebirth is the theme of lawyer/writer P.M. Jayatilaka's latest work, 'Nevata Upata', (he calls it a review on the subject of rebirth) where he has documented a series of events and incidents relating to rebirth. He quotes from features that appeared in weekend newspapers over a long period and collates them in a meaningful manner giving his own interpretations in a readable and interesting fashion.

Rebirth being essentially a Buddhist concept, Jayatilaka discusses Buddha's teachings pinpointing many instances from Suttas. Jayatilaka explains briefly how one should lead a good life. "A good driver drives carefully and intelligently ensuring his own safety and the safety of other passengers, whether there are any dangerous bends or not, whether there are road blocks or not or whether there are others speeding towards you. We should lead our lives in the same fashion."

What motivated him to get interested in a subject like rebirth? "When I was a small boy, I could hear my father (a teacher by profession) recite from 'Loweda Sangarawa' the verse on the need to do meritorious deeds before death hits you. He would pace up and down reciting 'Ada ada eyi maru pinkara ganne - Kelesada seta maru neya sithanne'. He also quoted from Pandit Alagiyawanna Mukaweti's 'Subashithaya' extolling the virtues of avoiding sinful activities." This set him thinking.

Jayatilaka also devotes many pages to relate a number of incidents where liquor had been the cause of family disunity and disharmony. He hits hard at social evils which affects one's next birth and quotes examples of how people who have misbehaved suffer after death.

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