Kala Korner by Dee Cee

Film-making to management to writing books. This is the track record of D.B. Nihalsingha (he succeeded in obtaining a doctorate from the Western Australia University in between) who, we all still remember as a brilliant cameraman and gifted film director.

He has scored many firsts in his career. He gave us the first wide screen film in Sinhala ('Weli Katara') and the first ever teledrama ('Dimuthu Muthu)', followed by the first musical teledrama ('Rekha'). He was the first (and only) professional to make a success of the State (now National) Film Corporation and was the first Sri Lankan to be picked to head the film and TV production division of Astro (in Kuala Lumpur), the world's largest fully digital production house.

He has now scored yet another 'first' in presenting a serious study of the success and failure of a state enterprise - the Film Corporation. The book titled 'Public Enterprise in Film Development - Success and Failure in Sri Lanka' has had its worldwide release and will soon be available in Sri Lanka. The publishers, Trafford Publishing in Canada, introduce the book as "the hitherto untold story of the world's only instance of successful state intervention in film development, its colossal accomplishments and its ultimate, tragic failure”.

"In no country in the world has film development been a colossal success as in Sri Lanka. Within six years a set of bold, comprehensive, ground-breaking interventions in film distribution, production, exhibition and film imports resulted in doubling annual attendance from 30 million to 74.4 million. This and many other achievements could not be sustained however. A combination of managerial irresponsibility, incompetence and political apathy resulted in the state enterprise which achieved that success spending its way to virtual bankruptcy," the publisher's note adds.

The book is bound to raise a lot of eyebrows since the authoritative study by the one-time General Manager (Nihalsingha headed the Corporation from 1972 to 1978) details out the success and failure of a state enterprise with facts and figures hitherto not made public.

What made Nihalsingha undertake this study? "There has been a lot of talk about the film industry in Sri Lanka and the role played by the Film Corporation. Different people have put forward different theories. Some say TV sounded the death knell of the local film industry. To others it's the 1983 riots. For some the 1970’s marked the industry's golden age. That was the era when talented filmmakers were given financial assistance to make films. Talent blossomed during that time and many newcomers made good films. At the same time, distribution was streamlined. The audience of 30 million in 1971 rose to 74.4 million in 1978. Screen time dominated by Tamil films with 80% and Sinhala films getting a mere 20% was changed to 60% Sinhala and 40% Tamil. This helped to maintain a healthy balance and the audience enjoyed both Sinhala and Tamil films," he explains.

In the book, he discusses the lack of foresight and vision by successive managements of the Corporation leading to disastrous results over the years. The statistical data given in the book shows how profits tumbled with losses recorded year after year in the recent past.

Worldwide interest

Nihalsingha believes the study would interest worldwide readership in knowing how a state enterprise could be so successful over a period of time and then record a downhill performance. "With so many theories floating around, I thought it was time I came out with the story. With every government in the world with the exception of the United States doling out money to filmmakers and not bothering to find out how that money is spent or whether such productions are a success, they will find the study pretty interesting and possibly pick up a lesson or two. They would be very much interested in knowing the operational impact of a state enterprise and finding an answer to the question - Can a public organisation be successful?"

Knowing that the Sinhala readership will also want to know the story, Nihalsingha is finalising the Sinhala version which will be out as a Sarasavi publication shortly.

Meanwhile, he is getting ready to publish the thesis he submitted for his doctorate. It's on state enterprises discussing four state ventures - the Bank of Ceylon, the Insurance Corporation, the Building Materials Corporation and the Film Corporation. As for making another film or getting back to TV productions, Nihalsingha is not at all keen. "True I am being approached all the time, but I prefer to contribute by way of sharing my knowledge and experience," he says. Though he now dons the mantle of an academic in place of the heavy 35 mm Ariflex camera he used to carry, I will always remember Nihal as the clever young man I met on his return after collecting the Commonwealth Film Festival Trophy at Cardiff in 1965. That was over 40 years ago. How time flies.