How to forget the trailblazer?

How soon time flies – it’s one year since my friend D.B. Nihalsingha departed. That was on 21 April 2016. Just as the first death anniversary was approaching, a significant event took place. The digital version of his maiden feature film, ‘Weli Kathara’ – the first Sinhala film in cinemascope done in 1971 – was launched. 

The local fans who missed the original film can now see this powerful movie set in the sand dunes in the north. It is one film where the two topmost actors of that day – Gamini Fonseka (police superintendent) and Joe Abeywickrema (Goring mudalali) turn out arguably their best roles together in a film. Equally impressive was Sivineetha Weerasinghe in the female lead.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of ‘Sath Samudura’ where Nihalsingha’s mark as a master craftsman in handing the camera was sealed. The first feature film where he cranked the camera (he also edited the film), it was also the first directorial effort of Peradeniya campus don Dr. Siri Gunasinghe. 

Somadasa Elvitigala’s music score along with the superb rendering of the theme song written by Mahagama Sekera captured the impact of the stormy seas in the story of the fisher folk as no other film had done. 

The acting of Cyril Wickremge and Denawaka Hamine (as mother and son) won critical appreciation for their noteworthy performance. Edmund Wijesinghe (‘Maname’ fame) and Swarna Mallawaarachhci did their maiden roles in ‘Sath Samudura’. 

Having the knack of sensing what is in store in the cinematic field Nihalsingha was always one step ahead. By the time television started in 1979, he was ready with tele-serial. It was, in fact, South Asia’s first colour teledrama. 

‘Dimuthu Muthu’ (with Amarasiri Kalansuriya and Devika Mihirani) brought a novel form of entertainment to Sri Lankan homes. He was also ready to meet the communication requirements of the commercial sector. The first TV commercials rolled out from Tele-Cine, the outfit he crated. 

Much has been written about him since his death which need not be repeated.

As I was recollecting our longstanding friendship and Nihalsignha’s service to Sri Lanka’s film industry, I picked a Facebook entry by renowned poet Buddhi Galappatty – a beautiful verse in Sinhala summing up Nihalsingha’s illustrious career as a tribute marking the death anniversary.

I have attempted (not quite successfully, I must admit) to at least catch the spirit of this absorbing ‘biographical poem’ by Buddhi and share it with the readers:

A flower should be a flower

A river should be a river

The moon being a star should be a star

A man should truly be a man

‘Born into this world they just exist’

Such people are aplenty

But

Genuine people are so rare

Why?

They do not just exist merely because they were born

 Unhesitatingly

I say he was a Great Man

First to Ananda

Then to Peradeniya

Short films to cinematography to editing

Over to the Government Film Unit

Cinema Television Teledramas

Direction Production

Film industry administration

He was truly a great man 

A giant a colossus a lion

That was Nihalsingha

Buddhi follows up very cleverly the role he played as cinematographer/director/producer of films and the teledramas he directed, the players who acted in them – Buddhi’s is truly a well-deserved tribute to one who contributed a lot to the progress of cinema and television.

Here is what the two recognised film commentators said of him in ‘Profiling the Sri Lankan Cinema’: “As a filmmaker, Nihalsingha has always taken great pains to exploit the resources of cinema to communicate human experiences that would appeal to the broad mass of people. None of his films can be rated as a sustained and compelling work in terms of willed art. However, his meticulous attention to the placement of camera angles, and mise-en-scene, have endured his broad appeal. He has always subscribed to the notion that cinema should be a refined form of popular entertainment.”