Film with no religious bias

It’s good to hear that the response for ‘Sri Siddhartha Gautama’ is extremely good. The news is that filmgoers are clamouring to get tickets, particularly during the weekends.  It proves that there is always an audience for a quality product. The film is being screened in 45 cinemas covering towns in most parts of the island. Being a film which the family can sit together and watch, it attracts the young and old alike.

Having been a Sinhala filmgoer for many years, it’s rarely that a film achieves the high standards that ‘Sri Siddhartha Gautama’ has reached. It’s a fine all-round performance by everyone – not only the players but the technical crew and the production team as well. Everything – acting, photography, music, choreography, direction, editing – has gelled perfectly. One may be able to find a few flaws here and there but overall, the film scores very high marks.

The Indian actors and actresses who did some of the key roles have won the hearts of the local filmgoers. It’s because they just lived their roles. And they fitted in to them so well. Of course, our players are also equal to the task with Ranjan Ramanayake as King Suddhodana, Saranga Dissasekara as Channa and Roshan Ranawana as prince Nanda doing their roles convincingly.

Incidentally, the main actor Gagan Malik, who plays Prince Siddhartha, has indicated his willingness to come over for any promotional activity and is due here on 1 March.  He is bound to be a big draw wherever he goes, now that most fans have seen the film. He, Anchal Sing (Princess Yasodara) and Gautam Gulati (Devadatta, Yasodara’s brother) are newcomers to the screen but they perform like seasoned players due to their training during their studies at film institutions.

Dropping in at the Light of Asia Foundation office at Lester James Peiris Mawatha a few days back, I saw producer Navin Gooneratne (he is the chairman of the Foundation) busy planning to get the film released abroad. “There is a big demand particularly by the Sri Lankan community abroad. We have made a good film and we have to see that it gets the widest reach globally,” he said.

Navin G. is likely to take the film to Melbourne in April where a Sri Lankan association has indicated willingness to sponsor it. If he undertakes the trip, he is keen to cover other cities as well since there are Sri Lankans in all of them.

He is extremely happy that Light of Asia Foundation was able to complete the film to mark the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi. “It was no easy task. We faced numerous obstacles. Selecting the cast was the most difficult. Looking back, I think we made the right decision in picking Indian players who, though they were amateurs, had the necessary talent and discipline which they had acquired during their studies. It did take time but it was worth the wait.”

Navin G. was all praise for the commitment and dedication of everyone who chipped in do a quality production. There was Jeff Gunawardena assisting him in the production and Chandran Ratnam performing a major role in directing the film along with Saman Weeraman.

Choreographers Channa Wijewardana, Ravibandu Vidyapathi and Rangana Ariyadasa took great care in creating the dancing and drumming sequences to suit the moods of the story. So was music director Pradeep Ratnayake who made use of his observations at Columbia University during his post-graduate studies to turn out an outstanding score. H.D. Dayananda’s photography and Praveen Jayaratne’s editing helped to make it a beautiful film.

“The advice of the Sangha was immense. We were very careful in preparing the script and at every turn we sought their advice to ensure that we did not make any mistake. In the end, while we made a film on the life of the Buddha, we succeeded in making one that can be enjoyed by everyone irrespective of their religion or faith. That is our achievement,” Navin told me as I left, wishing him success in making its global presence.