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Striking
gold
A month later, back at home Vimukthi reflected that though the award is not a big obsession, it was a chance to bring Sri Lankan films to the international ‘red carpet’. “It’s still close to me. During the festival I met many famous faces in the audience, people whom we are used to seeing on TV and in Hollywood films. I was a little shy at meeting them, as I am a very shy person! It all seemed like a dream, yet, it’s not a dream.” Vimukthi hails from Galle and he studied at Mahinda College, Galle. Talking about his school life, he said that his interest in film made him initiate a film club in his school. “With the help from a group of students, who really wanted to do films, and with help from some teachers, we launched a film club. During club activities, we invited some film directors to do lectures and workshops at school. I remember once we screened Piravi, a Malayalam film by Shaji N. Karun, which won several awards, including the Camera d’Or, which involves a somewhat controversial theme based on disappearance. Shaji N. Karun was my hero at that time and I used to write him letters. I can remember on one occasion he responded to a letter. Later it was published in many newspapers in Sri Lanka.” After his school years, Vimukthi worked as a film critique for several Sinhala newspapers. At the same time, he watched as many films as he could. “I came all the way from Galle to Colombo and settled down in the city, just to watch films. People thought I was mad to settle down in a city to just watch films wasting hours,” says Vimukthi. During this period Vimukthi applied for a Film Appreciation course in Pune, India. In addition, he did film production and directing courses, which took nearly two years to complete. But once back in Sri Lanka, after venturing into film courses, Vimukthi couldn’t get into the films immediately due to financial constraints. However, his life took a turn for the better when he got a chance to be a part of a well-known advertising agency as a Creative Director. “I really enjoyed working in the advertising field. The art of advertising is fun and it’s a very interesting education. In advertising you have to tell the whole story within 30 seconds, unlike in films. And it’s in advertising that I got the chance to learn the practical experience of a film. I became very confident of my creativity, and it was the then head of that advertising agency who first recognised my talent and encouraged me to move forward.” Four
years later, Vimukthi found himself working on a documentary on
disabled soldiers and promoting peace. “I was given a chance
to work in the government film lab. It was a strange place. All
the equipment belonged to the sixties. It seemed like I was travelling
back in time,” he says, with a grin. Aroused by his desire to move forward with his initial documentary film, Vimukthi did his best in all aspects of filmmaking – from shooting, editing, and lab processing to his documentary. Shootings took place in a rehabilitation camp in Ragama, the Army Hospital in Colombo and other relevant sites. It took nearly three years to finish the thirty-minute documentary, which was named – Land Of Silence. It was after this laborious period that Vimukthi finally got the chance to make his dream come true. He went to France with a part scholarship from his college and sponsorship from the Film Corporation. Before he produced his first feature film – Sulanga Enu Pinisa, Vimukthi did a short film named Empty For Love (a French film). And the rest of the story is well known for most of us, at least by now! Whenever we talk of Vimukthi, what comes to our minds is all about Cannes and films. But before coming into films, this shy lad tried many things. He said he used to play the violin, then shifted to dancing. But he screwed up! He also loved drama, and expressed his willingness to try out new themes for his stage plays in the future. He learned a little motor mechanism as well. His favourite pastime activity is swimming. But what excites him most is meeting people and talking to them. Today, Vimukthi is a guide to young budding filmmakers in Sri Lanka. His way of making it to the top is not so easy, yet it’s achievable. On the topic of how a young film maker can make it in the Sri Lankan cinema, where cinema is most often a duplicate of Hollywood mixed with Bollywood, Vimukthi noted that the crucial problem faced by the young people in Sri Lanka is education, and their mindset being trapped in an island ideology – we are not looking at the problem outside the box! “We don’t know our roots. Most of us think that when we substitute borrowed behaviour from India and America, without even knowing the true culture behind it, we think we are armed with everything. But it’s not true.” Relating his theory to Sri Lankan art, Vimukthi says that most young artistes don’t make original structures, but fit their creativity into certain structures. “We can’t do a film like Day After Tomorrow because of high budgets. And we don’t need another Day After Tomorrow. We don’t need another Ricky Martin. He already exists in this world. We need something else. We need original structures.” Vimukthi admits that he doesn’t mean that we should be blind to the trends in society, but we should not lose sight of our own style, which should emit the brightness of our land and our individuality. “It’s simple. If you want to go somewhere, take the vehicle and reach the destination. Once you reach your destination, leave the vehicle and go on your own,” he says, giving a clear picture of what is desired of a responsible young generation. Says Vimukthi, “Youth voice in Sri Lanka is zero. They are unaware of local bodies that can help them achieve their targets. They think that the national bodies are not capable of helping them out. National is a representation of international. Cinema always flows as an international theme. It’s through national representation that we can achieve heights in the world of cinema. Young people should be more aware of the things that are happening around them, and should have the courage to question and correct the forms that are dominating the world, whether it’s cinema or politics.” |
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