Ralex, the one and only

By D.C. Ranatunga

The Ranasinghe brothers – Tony and Ralex – were extremely talented artistes in their own fields of art from the 1960s onwards. 

Tony was a renowned actor both on stage and screen. Ralex blossomed as an outstanding photographer in the pre-colour era as well as a master-craftsman in poster and newspaper layout designing, stage décor and make-up, advertising, book cover and CD cover designing and copy writing. Due to his writing skills he was a successful journalist too.

Apart from Ralex I can only remember D.B. Suranimala producing quality black and white photographs of Sinhala dramas (‘Maname’ pictures were a treat) at that time.

Towards the latter part of his career Ralex moved over to television production and was in the pioneering team of the State-sponsored Selacine advertising outfit. Though I had been admiring his photography, I got to know him when he was at Selacine where he and I did some work together for CTC, where I was handing communications. By then he was gradually going grey and a hallmark of the man was the well-grown grey beard.

The recent release of ‘Ralex’ – a bilingual felicitation volume, conceptualised by Ralex’s brother Ranil – is a fitting tribute to this brilliant creative man. It also protects for posterity at least a glimpse of his masterly work. It is a collector’s item for those interested in Sri Lankan theatre and cinema. 

For art lovers of yesteryear, it’s going down memory lane recollecting the looks of their favourite players in the heyday of their careers. For the present generation, they can view some of the most talked-about artistes of the days gone-by.

The simple and neat graphic designs of Jorg Muller of Nuremberg, Germany and the clean printing by Fastprintery Ltd., Colombo, obviously under the supervision of well-known publisher Prem Dissanayake, have helped to lift the quality of the publication. The quality of the pictures is excellent. White being the dominant colour from cover through the inner pages, the book has a clean look.

Fr. Ernest Porutota, whose interest in the arts is well-known and had been closely working with Ralex, calls him “an extremely multi-talented, creative and courageous” artiste. “He is one and only.  I call him the ‘Defiant Son’ or the ‘Rebellious Son,’” Fr. Porutota adds.

He gratefully acknowledges Ralex’s role in OCIC film awards begun in 1972. The OCIC award was designed based on Ralex’s concept. He also suggested the word ‘Uttamachara’ for ‘Salutation’. He was also a jury for several years. 

I remember Ralex turning up at the BMICH for the felicitation of Fr. Porutota and walking slowly to his seat in the front row. Fr. Porutota walked up to him and handed over a memento to remember their long association and recognise Ralex’s contribution towards the OCIC Awards. 

Veteran arts writer Sunil Mihindukula (he is also co-editor of ‘Ralex’) briefly discusses Ralex’s life story spanning 71 years (1935-2006) identifying the key works during his professional career. Ramesh Uvais has done the English translations in his customary simple writing style.

It’s indeed nice to see the man with a big heart being saluted with a book carrying his work over many decades.