26.3.2008
By a Special Correspondent Washington
Malani
Fonseka on her recent U.S. tour speaks of her dreams for
Sri Lanka’s movie industry
In
an essentially self-centered world, rare is the person
who takes time to dwell on the broader needs of a profession
in terms of posterity.
Malani Senehalatha Fonseka, dubbed ‘Queen of the
Sinhala Cinema,’ who, during her recent tour in
the U.S., spoke wistfully, yet with determination, of
her dreams for the future of Sinhala cinema.
Having
risen to the zenith as an icon of Sinhala cinema, Malani
feels her next role is to help produce quality, professional
movie stars in Sri Lanka. As she celebrated forty years
on the silver screen, among her fans and well-wishers
in the U.S., Malani could not but help reflect upon the
yawning gulf between what is available and what is needed
to achieve professionalism in the Sri Lankan world of
movies. And for Malani, what sticks out like a sore thumb
is the need for an academy for professional drama and
theater.
This
is where the Queen of Sinhala Cinema hopes to step in,
to give more of herself to the profession she has given
her life to. “I have a dream to give my knowledge
to the aspiring stars of the Sinhala screen, of how to
be a professional movie personality,” she said.
She has long realized the fruitlessness of waiting for
state help, and has made plans to fulfill her dreams by
venturing into it on her own, intuitively feeling that
a new chapter is opening up in her life.
Her
idea is to initiate a Movies and Drama Institute in the
house her mother has gifted her and provide the opportunity
to aspiring stars to achieve professionalism in the field
through proper training. She feels she would be satisfied
to know she has created at least a handful of professional
movie stars.
Malani
spoke of her debut in the movie world with Tissa Liyansuriya's
Punchi Baba (The little Baby) in 1968. She never looked
back, but moved on to star in over 200 films, some of
which were international movies. As she spoke of the Golden
Era of the Sinhala Cinema in the 1970s and early 1980s,
she was visibly distressed at the dire straits it is in
today, starting with the July 1983 riots that snowballed
into the current conflict. “In a situation of war,
the first casualty in the entertainment industry, and
that is what happened to us,” she said. She recalled
how Sri Lanka’s movie industry produced over 200
movies a year before 1983, and now produces meager 10-15
movies a year.
As
the cinema lost popularity with the security situation
in the country worsening over the years after 1983, movie
budgets became more frugal. Entertainment in turn became
cheaper, and the casualty was quality. As the teledrama
industry began to thrive, producers and script writers
mushroomed, with little check on quality. It became “like
an instant food,” as Malani described the phenomenon.
Of course, there were quality-conscious teledrama producers,
but, by and large, the entertainment industry saw a decline
in quality. To add to the woes, the market for Sinhala
movies is limited to Sri Lanka, and that too, not beyond
the North Central Province, said Malani.
Living
and breathing art, which speaks a language beyond borders,
Malani is anguished by the bitterness and animosity between
the Sinhalese and the Tamils, brought on by the conflict.
She spoke of all her Tamil friends, Tamil directors, singers
and coworkers in the field, during times when being Sinhalese
or Tamil was of no consequence, when, being a good human
being was all that mattered. Today, it is a totally different
situation, where distrust and suspicion have clouded and
tarnished relationships, and openness is a thing of the
past.
In
these trying times, it is Malani’s belief that she
should rely on herself to do what is in her power to do,
to bring some relief and revival to a languishing movie
industry. To bring Sri Lanka’s standards of professionalism
in movies to international level is a daunting task, she
well understands that. She is proud to accept that challenge,
she said, and she would do her best to return the favor
as nobly as possible, to the movie industry, for the honor
it bestowed on her as Queen of the Sinhala Cinema.
Courtesy
Asian Tribune