• Foot Loose goes steady
• Mobile Pop Show
• Rattlesnake at Rock Blast again
• Artist of ability and musician of repute
• Vasantha sticks to known faces

Foot Loose goes steady

'Foot Loose', a discotheque organized by the district rotaract organization to Rotary International District 3220 will be on April 29 at Blue Leopard from 9 p.m. onwards.

Footwork DJs will provide the music for dancing. Foot Loose will have unlimited dancing, great music and lots of competitions and prizes to be won.

'Rotaract provides an opportunity for young people between 18-30 to enhance the knowledge and skills that will assist them in personal development, to address the physical and social needs of their communities and to provide better relationships between people through a framework of friendship and service.' said Aida Ghouse, the project Chairperson.

The proceedings from this 'Foot Loose' project will be channeled towards the above mentioned community development project.

The ticket is priced Rs 200/= per head and will be available at all leading shops in Colombo.

Mobile Pop Show

This year the New Year revellers and the holiday makers swarming to Nuwara Eliya for the season are in for a pleasant surprise and a load of entertainment!

'Road Side DJ Music Station', a Mobile Pop Show is now the biggest attraction in Nuwara Eliya.

The mobile pop show will continue till April 25.

Those who are walking the streets taking in the fresh air with friends and families amidst the holiday atmosphere is treated to a musical extravaganza in the town in the form of a 'Mobile Pop Show, on wheels.

This novel activity, promoted by 'Creative Plus Entertainment', provides music from the latest albums in addition to playing the requests of visitors.

Thus road side DJ Station which will be known as the 'road side show' is stationed in the centre of activity in the town and is expected to provide unlimited entertainment during the entire season. DJ Music for this event will be provided by Cool Zone Inc.

Rattlesnake at Rock Blast again

After a successful open air concert, "Rock Blast 98" , held in December last year, "Rattlesnake" and other rock bands are planning to have another concert for those die hard rockers once again in May 8, 1999.

For those who missed the opportunity to get the metal experience of "Rock Blast 98" last time in Colombo this will be the one with more power.

"Rock Blast 99", the in thing of rock sounds will work off on May 8 1999 at the Auditorium of Bishop's College at 7.00pm.

The leading and pioneer rock band in Sri Lanka "Rattlesnake" will be in action along with the "Fatal Knights," the rockers for young generations and alternative rock band called "Vishwa."

Folk musicians "Anton & Friends" are to performe as guest band on this occasion with pure live music of rock, reggae, fusion, raga, blues, folk and etc. from Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Bob Marley, Guns n' Roses, Eric Clayton etc.

The compere for the blast will be Anton Gunatillake.

'Rattlesnake' will sing some of their original songs as well.

Currently Rattlesnake is performing at 'Why Not' in Hikkaduwa on Saturdays.

Artist of ability and musician of repute

The exhibition of painting by the late Ananda Samarakone held recently at the Art Gallery, Colombo recently was indeed a fitting tribute to that great artiste on the occasion of his 37th death anniversary.

Ananda Samarakone, born on January 13, 1911, showed a talent for drawing and composing songs from a very tender age. Having first ventured into the world of music by presenting a song under the label,"His Master's Voice" in 1939, he went on to become the composer of the National Anthem of Sri Lanka.

The chief guest on this occasion, the High Commissioner for India, Sri Shiva Shankar Menon pointed out that many remember Ananada Samarakone as the author of the Sri Lankan National Anthem, but not as a brilliant artist in the field of painting.

Like many other Sri Lankan pioneers of the century in the field of fine arts, such as music, dancing and painting, Ananada Samarakone was also attracted to Santhiniketan, the abode of peace, of Gurudev Tagore, and during the 30s, he went there and studied painting under the guidance of Nandalal Bose.

After his return to Sri Lanka, while making his pioneering contribution in the field of Sinhala music, he also made use of his other talent and gave the public a highly creative collection of paintings depicting nature and pastoral life of our people.

Later he held a number of exhibitions in India, Kuala Lampur and Singapore where his works were highly acclaimed.

Ananda Samarakone was a pioneer in the use of colourants and indigenous material in producing long lasting colours.

The organizers of the recent Exhibition, in particular, Ananda Samarakone's niece, Mrs. Ilanga Karunaratne should be congratulated for bringing under one roof nearly 85 original paintings of this great artist. While it provided a rare opportunity to art lovers of the present generation, it was indeed a fitting tribute to a quiet man whose pioneering contributions to a nation, alas were not duty recognized during his lifetime.

An Indian critic once wrote the following words about Ananda Samarakone.

"He brings out beauty through music and art, but it is difficult to reason out whether he does this more successfully through music or through art".

Having contributed immensely to the national musical and artistic scene, Ananda Samarakone bade farewell to Mother Lanka and this earth on the 5th April 1962, at the age of 51.

Vasantha sticks to known faces

By Kumaradasa Wagista.

After much consideration and thought film maker Vasanta Obeysekera has finalised the two main artistes for his next film presently titled 'Perasmudde Mayawa' ( Illusion of the Wedding Ring). He is continuing interviews to select the rest of the cast for the other roles.

He has chosen Sangeetha Weeraratna to play the main female role and new comer Pradeep Senanayake will play opposite her. Pradeep Senanayake was picked by H. D. Premaratna to play the role of a playboy opposite Sabita Perera and Ravindra Ran-deniya in the Australia-Sri Lanka co-production 'Man-dakini'. "Pradeep has the physique built and the face I conceived,while the script was written. I have worked with Sangeetha in two films earlier, 'Maruthaya' and 'Dorakada Mar-awa' and I am well aware of her acting potential" director Obe-ysekera said. However the title of the film will be changed. He wants the shooting schedule to commence shortly.

Pradeep Senanayale is a Sri Lankan businessman operating from Japan. He is playing a role in Premaratna's 'Kinihiriya Mal' also.

Discussing the theme of the film is yet premature as the entire cast is not yet selected but its a meaty story, he said. Sarath Abeysena the producer of 'Dorakada Marawa' is producing this film. "I am glad that he thought of producing another film as at least a few in the local film industry will benefit"he added. 'Dorakada Marawa ' which was based on a true incident that occurred in the country was one of the successful films that was released last year. Mr Abeysena is a retired officer of a mercantile establishment who thought of producing a film after retirement. Presently he is involved in a BOI project. "As Dorakada Marawa was a successful venture I thought of producing another film mainly because I love the film industry" Abeysena said.

Vasantha Obeysekera entered films as co script writer and assistant director in 'Sath Samudura'. His first feature film was 'Vesgatto' produced by Dr Linus Dissanayake in 1967. The film he will start is his eleventh film. Jayanath Gunawardena is the cinematographer and Elmo Haliday will be its editor. Rohana Weerasinghe is to be assigned as the music director.

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