Always the winner

By D.C. Ranatunga

Filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage is a lucky man. Every time he gets a court order, the verdict is in his favour. Result: more and more crowds flock to see his creations. He builds up a new clientele. His stature goes up.

Last week the Court allowed the re-screening of his film ‘Usaviya Nihadai’ (‘Silence in the Court’). A former judicial officer had filed a case that the film be taken out of the cinemas since it was harmful to his character. 

Much has been written about the film in recent weeks and how Prasanna picked up the story based on an exhaustive investigative report by Ravaya Editor Victor Ivan in the late 1990s of how a judicial officer used his position to sexually abuse wives of accused and how higher authorities shielded him when complaints were made. Being domiciled abroad I haven’t had the chance to see the film which, once again, appears to be a novel approach by Prasanna.

Censor boards and Government agencies didn’t like some of his work. When they moved to ban them he went to courts and won. The winners were the film fans. We saw the inner sufferings linked to the battlefront during those dark days through ‘Purahanda Kaluvara’. He highlighted human problems of the war through ‘Ira Mediyama’ and ‘Oba Nethuva Oba Ekka’.   

I have known Prasanna for several years and closely watched his progress. He is simple and unassuming. He is talented. He is creative. He is bold. He is not afraid to handle provocative themes.  He has broken many an obstacle.

During his 20 years of film-making he had given the audiences something different from the mundane love stories, family squabbles and fairy tales. Starting with ‘Sihila Ginigani’ in 1992, he had not rushed into churning out popular films. He takes his time, picks a contemporary theme, looks round for the players who fit in to the different characters and makes a quality film. 

No longer is he the young, coming artiste. He is now the mature filmmaker leading the list of Sri Lankan film directors recognised the world over. He works with foreign producers and found markets abroad for his creations which are appreciated by foreign audiences. His creations are bilingual. 

When he had to wait for years for a circuit to screen his films, he looked for alternatives. International film festivals opened the door to him. He won awards. Not many of our actors and actresses have won recognition at these festivals. For seasoned artistes Nita Fernando in ‘Pavuru Valalu’ and Joe Abeywickrema in ‘Purahanda Kaluvara’ these were unforgettable moments. 

Awards came in bundles at local festivals – too many to list out.

Prasanna has also been fortunate in finding local producers like H.D. Premasiri to support him.

He invited both seasoned and new players to act in his films. Tony Ranasinghe in ‘Pavuru Valalu’ and Malini Fonseka in ‘Akasa Kusum’ turned out superb performances. We hadn’t seen Nimmi Harasgama and Peter Almeida in films before ‘Ira Mediyama’. These are just a few names that randomly come to my mind. 

While getting maestro Khemadasa to handle music in his early films, he introduced Laksman Joseph de Saram to compose music in Sinhala films.

Prasanna’s contribution to Sri Lankan cinema is praiseworthy. There is time ahead for him to continue his journey. 

All the best, Prasanna!