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| Prasanna
finally enters the cinema Speaking to Prasanna who is enthusiastic about his new venture made me realize the mindset of the up and coming director. ‘I'm not regretting or worried about the delay. It is the lot of any artiste in a country which has no proper place to academically study art and the only chance to do a work of art is by trial and error,’ undeterred and still positive Prasanna said. ‘If I had got this opportunity a few years ago I would have done a totally different film’ Having completed the script and eager to start the preproduction of his film Prasanna Jayakody shared his journey from a young amateur playwright to a budding filmmaker. ‘When you are young you are full of imagination and there is courage to undergo any experience and take risks. But now in my late thirties I would think twice before doing anything’ said Prasanna who is preparing for the filming of his maiden venture. Reminiscing about the chances he missed Prasanna said, ‘First I was selected as one of the scriptwriters to receive the loan scheme offered by the National Film Corporation (NFC) under the Chairmanship of Tissa Abeysekere. ‘But there was a condition that the script should qualify for a film as well as for a teledrama. This was an impossible challenge for me as I did not want to take a risk between the two mediums. And I gave it up and concentrated on doing the teledrama 'Sanda Amawakai'. But by the time I completed teledrama, the NFC's condition had been revised and the loan was awarded for the film. Thus I missed that opportunity’ he added. "I missed the next loan opportunity by the NFC as I was two days too late to handover the script." But I never thought my script would be refused merely for that reason," Prasanna lamented. After that there were a number of producers who came forward but I was not prepared to fulfil their aspirations in order to do a film. "And though I don't have any enemies in this field there was one occasion where I missed an opportunity due to certain persons. They prevented a prospective producer who wanted to do a film with a budget of around Rs. 800,000 for the reason that I was an amateur" Prasanna claimed. "But I am not sad about those lost chances because I have got the most fitting opportunity with a producer who is also an experienced director who could understand what I want to do more than anyone else in this world," Prasanna said appreciatively about his production. "I am indebted to Somaratne Dissanayake for placing his trust and confidence in me and giving me this opportunity to make a film". Asked about his award winning achievements in the miniscreen, Prasanna said "My dream was the big screen. Through teledrama one cannot expose the reality of our lives. We watch teledramas while being involved in many other things, but in cinema its not so. Our full attention is on the screen". "Anyway I believe that I got the best opportunity at the ideal stage in my journey to the film world with the most suitable producer. I can do my maiden film without hindrance and independently," Prasanna said with much hope and expectation. Prasanna's progress
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