Another classic from Vasantha
The most practical achiever
Another classic from Vasantha
Vasantha Obeysekera is another film- maker on whom
one can depend on to give something new and refreshing. He also tries to
look for a plot close to the heart of everyone. That's how he made the
classic, Dadayama (1983 - with Ravindra Randeniya and Swarna Mallawarachchi
turning out superb performances) based on the Adeline Vitarana murder case.
Prior to that, Palagetiyo (1979 - Dharmasiri Bandaranayake and Dhammi Fonseka),
also based on a true story won the critics' plaudits. Both films were among
the ten best films produced in the first fifty years of Sinhala cinema.
In fact, his Kedapathaka Chaya (1989) was rated the 18th among the first
25.
And now it's Dorakada Marawa. Vasantha was inspired by an incident which
happened a few years ago on the Kandy road when a newly married couple
met with a fatal accident on the wee hours of the day after their homecoming.
The car hit a mara tree and both were instantly killed. Vasantha was intrigued
to find out how exactly this tragic event occurred. Was it suicide or was
it homicide or was simply a simple accident? He spent months digging up
information about the two people and their backrounds.
The film is a simple and straightforward story. But it has been presented
in a novel way. It is bound to be enjoyed by everyone. According to Vasantha,
the story has been constructed on the basis of two layers moving independently
of each other- one going from present to the past revealing how the various
interested parties interpreted the cause that led to the accident and the
other moving from the past to the present showing what really happened
to the couple and what led to their untimely death. The two layers move
towards each other but do not perfectly merge as there is a slight dislocation
both in space and time.
Starting his film career as an assistant director in Sath Samudura in1967
(we were fellow journalists then at Lake House), Vasantha's first directorial
effort was in Vesgaththo (1970) followed by Valmathvuwo and Diyamanthi
(1976) and the films mentioned earlier. So it has been a consistent effort
to make quality films during the past three decades and his record is one
of getting better with each successive effort.
The most practical achiever
In his review of 50 years of Sinhala cinema dis-
cussing creative experimentalists in cinema, Gamini Haththotuwegama had
this to say about Vasantha Obeysekera:
"His film-making career spans three decades and marks a steady
graduation from innocent endeavour to pregnant achievement. He is in my
opinion the most wisely and securely placed of our directors. He seems
to be mastering what others are furiously and with extreme bother and strain
muscling to achieve. His films have no difficulty in carrying the art to
mass audiences. In terms of cinematic dramaturgy turned to social and personal
utterance his blendings seem right, and even rich. Ketapathaka Chaya is
as good a family epic as any in the genre. The other genre he excels in
are the thriller using sex and violence. Dadayama was a strong serious
melodrama astutely avoiding the populist temptation; and Palagetiyo projecting
the frustration of youth and sexual desire was an exceptionally fresh film.
A theorist in his own right he has been able to avoid any cerebral drift
and is the most practical achiever of our directors whom the film mag critics
(Sineru) have landed on the left bank."
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