Bevan to boost commercial films with the ‘Leader’

Bevan Perera, Sri Lankan businessman based in England is determined to promote commercial cinema in this country. His initial attempt is "Leader", a massive budget film directed by an actor Ranjan Ramanayake.‘A majority of the masses are demanding commercial films. I think the commercial cinema is much closer to the people's heart. This is the international trend too’ Ronnie Bevan Perera, the newest film producer in the Sri Lankan film industry said.

For the "Leader", Bevan has set aside Rs. 40 million and he considers it is not a waste but a price we have to bear to promote local cinema internationally.‘We at least have to compete with our neighbour India. And ‘Leader’ would be a leap forward in that attempt’ Bevan told the TV Times.

For the "Leader", Bevan has employed an actress from Kerala, India to play opposite Ranjan and another Indian actor for the role of villain. The producer has plans to release the film in India. "We will be making 25 Telegu copies and 30 Tamil copies to be released in India," Bevan says with confidence.

The film industry is a very competitive business and in this commercial cinema or films for entertainment plays a pivotal role.‘I don't believe that commercial cinema in Sri Lanka has developed. And I always had a knack for cinema and longed to join it,’ he told the TV Times. Bevan has selected his classmate at Maris Stella College and his childhood friend from his home town Negombo, Ranjan Ramanayake.

On the selection of Ranjan to direct his film, Bevan says "I feel that he is the number one choice for the task. He has proved this with his previous films "Parliament Jokes" and "One Shot". Both films were watched by more than one million people," Anyway even if we fail financially we could be happy as we have made a quality film for our audience, he added. Speaking on the film Bevan Perera said that the story demanded by the people has a hero whom they looked up to.

In addition, Leader will introduce a new music director to the cinema. Young musician Suneth Kelum is to handle the musical score in the film which has a number of songs including one with an innovative tune by the Gypsies leader Sunil Perera.

Bevan is hoping to release the music album prior to the release of the film. And latest cinema technology is to be used for the film. Revealing his future wishes, Bevan is planning to do a massive production jointly with India. "For this I want to use Ranjan with stars like Sha Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Amithab Bachchan and others.