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jHkrpwp gz;lhuehaf;f jdJ gilg;GfspD}lhfj; jkpo; kf;fs;kPJ fl;ltpo;j;J tplg;gl;l Aj;j td;Kiwf;F vjpuhd jdJ epiyg;ghl;il ntspg;gLj;jpajhy; =yq;fh murpd; fhty; Jiwapd; tprh uizf;F cl;gLj;jg;gl;lJld; jPtputhj rpq;fsf; Fk;gy; fspd; nfhiy kpul;ly;fisAk; capuhgj;ijAk; vjpH Nehf; Fk; xU rpq;fsf; fiyQH.
Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org jdJ fiyAyf tho;it ehlfq;fspy;> jpiug;glq;fspy; ebg;gjd; %yk; Muk;gpj;j tUk;> jpiug;gl-ehlf newpahsuhf mwpag;gl;ltUkhd jh;krpwp gz;lhuehaf;f (Dharmasiri Bandaranayake: Drama & Film Director, Script writer and Producer) ,yq; ifapd; fSj;Jiw khtl;lj;jpy; Nttpw;w vd;w ,lj;jpy; 06.10.1949,y; gpwe;jhh;. ,tuJ FLk;gg; ngaH ePyg;ngUkhs; (Kalukapuge).
,th; jhNd vOjp ,af;fpa Kjy; ehlfkhd Vfhjpgjp 1976,ypUe;J ,d;W tiu 1400 ,w;Fk; Nkw;gl;l jlitfs; NkilNaw;wg;gl;Ls;sJ. gpwnkhopapy; mike;j ehl fq;fspd; rpq;fs tbtj;jpid mNdf jlitfs; NkilNaw;wpaNjhL> Njrpa ehlf tpohtpy; rpwe;j ehlf ,af;Feh; cl;glg; gy tpUJfisg; ngw;Ws;shH. ,Wjpahf ntspte;j ,tuJ jpiug;glkhd gtJf;f> ngsj;j ehL vd;W nrhy;yg;gLfpd;w ,yq;ifapy; eilngw;WtUk; td;Kiwfs; - Aj;jk; Fwpj;J> midj;JNk tpjpg;gb vd;w ngsj;j rpj;jhe;jj;jpd;kPJ Nfs;tpia vOg;gpapUe;jJ.
A9 neLQ;rhiy jpwf;fg;gl;lijj; njhlh;e;J aho;g;ghzk;> tTdpah> kl;lf;fsg;G> jpU Nfhzkiy Mfpa khtl;lq;fSf;F tp[ak; nra;J ,Jtiu ehd;F rpq;fsj; jpiug;gl tpohf;fis ez;gh;fspd; cjtpAld; elhj;jpAs;sJld;> mq;F rpq;fs ehlfq;fis Ak; NkilNaw;wpAs;shh;. tl-fpof;F fiyQh;fis> kf;fisr; re;jpj;Jj; jkpoh;fspd; ghuk;ghpaf; fiyfshd ehl;Lf;$j;J> tpy;Yg;ghl;L> fpuhkpa-ehl;Lg; ghly;fs;> ,ir> eldk; ,tw;iwg; ghh;itapl;Lk; Nfl;Lk; tpag;gile;J> tlNkhb> njd;Nkhb ehl;Lf;$j; jpy; ehlfj;jpw;Fhpa kpfTk; tYthd $Wfs; (strong theatrical elements) ,Ug;gijAk;> ehl;lhh; ,irapYk; eldj;jpYk; tYkpf;f ehlfj;jpw;Fhpa cUtq;fs; (strong theatrical images) ,Ug;gijAk; ,dk; fz;L mtw;iw tPbNah nra;a Muk;gpj;jhh;. Nguhrphpah; nksdFUtpd; ,uhtNzrd ; ehl;Lf;$j;ijAk;> tl;Lf;Nfhl;il ehl;Lf;$j;jhd jh;k Aj;jj;ijAk; tptuzg;glkhf;fp> Mq;fpy cgjiyg;Gf;fSld; dvd tbtpy; Mtzg; gLj;jpj; jkpoh;fs; nra;jpUf;fNtz;ba XH mUk;gzpia Mw;wpAs;shh;. jh;krpwp ,e;jpahtpy; eilngw;w ,uhkhaz ehl;Lf;$j;Jj; jpUtpohtpw;Fr; nrd;W ghh; itapl;Ls;sJld; Nfush> jkpo;ehL nrd;W fiyQh;fSld; ciuahb mq;Fs;s $j;Jtiffisg; gw;wp mwpe;jjd; thapyhf> fjfspiaAk; rpq;fs eldj;ijAk; ,izj;J ,uhkazj;ij rpq;fs nkhopapy; jahhpj;Js;shh;. rpq;fs eldtifapYk;> ,e;jpahtpy; cs;s eldtifapYk; fhzg;gLk; xj;j jd;ik fis ,izj;J Mrpahtpw;Fhpa ghuk;ghpaj;ijf;nfhz;l fiyg; gilg;ig cU thf;Fk; Kaw;rpapy;
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Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org jh;krpwp gz;lhuehaf;fTldhd NeHfhzy; gh. Jthufd; fiy kPjhd Mk;> mJ 1956 fhyg; gFjp. vdf;F VO tajp Uf;Fk;. vdJ je;ijahH gioa kzpf;$Lfisj; jpUj;Jgtuhf ,Ue;jhH. vdJ mg;ghtpd; mg;gh xU eldf; fiyQH. mtH njd; gFjpapy; njhapy; vd;W nrhy;yg;gLk; eld mspf;iffisr; nra;J te;jhH. mtiu fg;Gkhj;jhah vd miog; ghHfs;. tp\;Z NfhtpYf;Fj; jd;id mHg;gzpj;jp Ue;jhH. vdJ mg;ghtpd; ghl;ldhHjhd; vdf;Fs; fiy kPjhd Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org ehlfj;jpw;fhd ghprpid ntd;wJld;> rpwe;j ebf gpd;dH 1992,y; gtJf;f vd;w jpiug;glj;ij Uf;fhd ghpirAk; NtW gy tpUJfisAk; ngw; vLf;f Muk;gpj;Njd;. vdJ je;ijtop cwtpduhd wJ. njhlHe;J gy ehlfq;fis vOjp Nkil Nf.v];.ngNuuh vd;gtH vOjpa ehtiy mbg;gil Naw;wpNdd;. ahf itj;J ,j;jpiug;glk; cUthf;fg;gl;lJ. Sorrow of existence vd;gNj ,jdJ fUj;J. ,e; vdJ KjyhtJ jpiug;glkhd `d;rtpyf; ehty; 1963,y; eilngw;w Njrpa ,yf;fpa tpoh (Hansavilak) 1979,y; jpiug;glkhf;fg;gl;lJ. mg; tpy; rpwe;j ehtYf;fhd tpUijg; ngw;wpUe;jJ. NghJk; ehd; ,wg;gH fl;Lg;ghl;Lj; jpizf;f ,j;jpiug;glk; 1997,y; jpiuaplg;gl;lJ. ,yq;if sj;jpy; Ntiy nra;J te;Njd;. mj; jpiug;g apy; eilngw;w gy;NtW jpiug;gl tpohf;fspy; lj;ij n[Hkdpapy; eilngw;w jpiug;gl tpoh rpwe;j newpahsUf;fhd tpUij ,j;jpiug;glk; tpw;F mDg;g Kbe;jJ. ngw;Wj; je;jJ. ,wg;gH fl;Lg;ghl;Lj; jpizf;fsj;jpy; ,Ue;J njhlHe;J 1999,y; fpNuf;f ehlfkhd Trojan tpyfp Reclamation Board ,y; NrHe;Njd;. mjd; women (l;Nuh[d;; ngz;fs;). ,J EuripdusMy; gpd; Jq;ntdpahka (Thunveniyama) vd;w jpiug; vOjg;gl;lJ. ,jid l;Nuh[d; fhe;jht vd;w glj;ij ,af;fpNdd;. ,j;jpiug;glk; ,yq;ifj; ngahpy; rpq;fsj;jpy; NkilNaw;wpNdd;. kPz;Lk; jpiug;glf; $l;Lj;jhgdj;jpdhy; A fpNul; jpiug; ,e;ehlfj;Jf;fhf rpwe;j ,af;FeH> rpwe;j ebfH> glkhf jug;gLj;jg;gl;lJ. mjdhy; mj;jpiug; rpwe;j ebif cl;gl gy Njrpa tpUJfs; fpilj; glj;ij jahhpg;gjw;fhd epjpAjtpia ,yFtpy; jd. ngwKbe;jJ. vdJ midj;J ehlfq;fSNk murpay; gw;wpa Jq;ntdpahikaitj; njhlHe;J Dream of the jhf ,Ue;jd. vdJ Muk;gfhyj; jpiug; glq;fs; Desert vd;w FWe;jpiug;glj;jij jahhpg;gjpy; jdpkdpjHfs; my;yJ Fwpg;gpl;l rpyiug; gw;wpad Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org gtJf;f (Sorrow of Existence)I Muk;gj;jpy; ,U kPsj;jpiuapl;lNghJ Kd;G fhzf;fpilj;j ghHit jpiug;glq;fshff; nfhz;Ltu vz;zpapUf;f ahsHfisf; fhzKba tpy;iy. ,J midj;Jf; tpy;iy. xU jpiuf;fijNa vOjg;gl;lJ. ,j fiyQHfspw;Fk; nghJthdjhf cs;sJ. idj; jpiuf;Ff; nfhzHe;jNghJ mJ MW kzp Neu kpf ePz;l jpiug;glkhf ,Ue;jJ. mjdhy;. ,jid ePq;fs; vt;thW ghHf;fpd;wPHfs;? mij cilj;J gtJf;f> gtfHk vd;w ,U jpiug;glq;fshf cUthf;fpNdd;. jw;NghJ kl;Lky;y fle;j gj;J tUlq;fshfg; ghHitahsHfs; jpiuauq;Ffs;> ehlf muq;Ff gphpl;\hhpd; Ml;rpf;fhyj;ij epidTf;Ff; nfhz;L spy; ,Ue;J tpyfp> XH ,ilntsp tphpe;J nry;t tUtjw;fhfNt ,jid cUthf;fpNdd; vd;W ijf; fhzKbfpd;wJ. kf;fs; jpiuauq;fpw;F nrhy;yyhk;. ,jD}lhf ,we;jfhyj;ij kl;Lky;y te;J jpiug;glq;fis kfpo;Tld; ghHitapLtij epfo;fhyj;ijAk; fhl;rpg;gLj;jNt tpUk;gpNdd;. tpl;L tpyfpr; nrd;W tpl;ldH vd;Wjhd; $w Ntz;Lk;. cz;ikapy; 1971 fpsHr;rpapYk;> 1983 ,df;fyt uj;jpYk;> gpd;dH 19871989 fhyg;gFjpapy; njd;dp 1980 A+iyapy; eilngw;w njhlHr;rpahd Ntiy yq;ifapy; eilngw;w gLnfhiyfspYk; vd;d epWj;jg; Nghuhl;lj;ijj; njhlHe;J jpiu auq;F epfo;e;eJ? ngsj;j ehL vd;W nrhy;yg;gLfpd;w fs; ntWikailaj; njhlq;fpd. ngUksT ghH ,yq;ifapy; ,j;jifa td;Kiwfs; Vd; epfo;e; itahsHfis ,jd;NghJ ,of;f Nehpl;lJ. jd vd;w Nfs;tpia ,t;tpU jpiug;glq;fSk; mjd; gpd; 1983 A+iy fytuk; ghHitahsHfis vOg;gpd. ngsj;j rpj;jhe;jj;jpd;gb tpjpapd; (fHkh mbj;Jr;nrd;Wtpl;lJ. 1983 fytuk; Vw;gLk; tiu tpd;) gbNa midj;Jk; epfo;fpd;wd. ehk; ngW njd; gFjpapy; trpj;j jkpoHfs; rpq;fsj; jpiug;g fpd;w midj;JNk tpjpg;gb vd;w ngsj;j fUj;jp lq;fisAk;> ehlfq;fisAk; ghHf;f tUthHfs;. aypd; kPJ ,j;jpiug;glq;fs; Nfs;tpia vOg;gpd. fytuj;ijj; njhlHe;J jkpoHfs; jpiuauq;Ff ,t;tpU jpiug;glq;fSk; gpujhdkhf ahNuh xU spy; ,Ue;J tpyfpdH. fytuj;jpd;NghJ jpiu rpy kdpjh;fSila tpjpapid my;yJ mDgtpf; auq;Ffs;> jpiug;glr; RUs;fs; ];&bNahf;fs; fpd;w Jd;gq;fis Nfs;tpf;F cl;gLj;jpd. vhpf;fg;gl;ld. ,ijj; njhlh;e;J ngUk; vz;zpf; ifahd ghHitahsHfs; fhzhky; NghapdH. cq;fsJ ehlfq;fs;> jpiug;glq;fs;kPjhd ghHitahsHfspd; gpujpgypg;G vt;thwhdjhf ,jd; gpwF Aj;jk; Muk;gkhdJ. Aj;jk; Muk;gpf; ,Ue;jJ? fg;gl;l gpwF mJ ,yq;ifapy; fiyapd;> fiy ehl;bd; jw;Nghija epiyAld; xg;gpLifapy; QHfspd; ,Ug;gpw;F kpfg;nghpa mr;RWj;jiy vdJ fiyg;gilg;Gf;fis ghHitahsHfSld; Vw;gLj;jpaJ. nghUshjhu hPjpahf kf;fs; neUf; gfpuf; fpilj;jikiaapl;L kfpo;r;rpailfpd;Nwd;. fbfSf;F Kfk; nfhLf;fj; njhlq;fpdH. ehshe;j gtJf;f vd;w jpiug;glj;ij ghHitahsHfSld; tho;T epiyaw;wjhf khwpaJ. 198789 fhyg;gFjp gfpHe;Jnfhs;sKbahky; NghdJ. apy; njd; gFjpapy; eilngw;w gLnfhiyfs; kf;fis fiyntspg;ghl;bypUe;J me;epag;gLj;jp Vfhjpgjp vd;w ehlfk; 1976 Kjy; 2000 Mz;L aJ. md;W epWj;jg;gl;l ,uT 9.30 kzp jpiug; tiu 1400,w;Fk; mjpfkhd jlitfs; Nkil glf; fhl;rp ,d;W tiu kPs Muk;gpf;fg;gltpy;iy. Naw;wg;gl;lJ. 1985,y; cUthf;fpa k`uf;rah ,d;W gpujhd efuq;fspy;$l ,uT 9.30w;F gpd;dH 617 jlitfs; NkilNaw;wg;gl;lJ. 1994,y; g]; Nghf;F tuj;jpidf; fhzKbahJ. mr;rk; Resistible Rise of Arturo Vvi (Rise of Hitler) 96 nghpa mstpy; vOe;Js;sJ. jlitfSk;> Men without shadows 750 jlitf Sk;> af;rh `kda 96 jlitfSk; Nkil mNrhf `e;jfktpd; Nk kNf re;ja (This Naw;wg;gl;ld. l;NuhId; ngz;fs; 1999,ypUe;J is my moon) gpurd;d tpjhdNfapd; Gufe;j ,d;W tiu 67 jlitfs; NkilNaw;wg;gl;Ls;sJ. fStu (Death on the full moon day)> ,u vdJ KjyhtJ ehlfj;jpypUe;J ,Wjpj; jpiug;g kjpak (The August Sun) Nghd;w jpiug; lkhd gtJf;f tiu midj;ijANk mjpf glq;fs; ,yq;ifapy; eilngw;WtUk; NghH vz;zpf;ifahd ghh;itahsh;fs;; (mass audience) gw;wpAk; ,dr;rpf;fy; gw;wpAk; fUj;Jf;fisf; kfpo;Tld; ghHitapl;Ls;sdh;. nfhz;bUf;fpd;wd. ,j;jpiug;glq;fs; jkpo; kf;fspd; tpLjiyg; Nghuhl;lk; Vd; Njhw;wk; ,d;W kf;fs; fiy ntspg;ghl;bypUe;J tpyfpap ngw;wJ vd;gJ gw;wpNah my;yJ Aj;jk; Uf;fpd;whHfs;. 1997,y; jahhpf;fg;gl;l gtJf;fit jkpo; kf;fis vt;thW tijj;jJ vd;gJ Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org gw;wpNah ve;jf; fUj;ijAk; nfhz;bUf;f fs; gw;wp mth;fs;; ftiyg;Ltjpy;iy. tpy;iy. ,jid ePq;fs; vg;gbg; ghh;f;fpd; wPh;fs;? vtuhtJ> Vd; ePq;fs; Aj;jk; gw;wpa jpiug;glj;ij vLf;ftpy;iy vd;W Nfl;bUg;gpd; ehd; nrhy;yp vdJ fUj;J vd;dntdpy; ,j;jpiug;glq;fshy; apUg;Ngd;: vd;dhy; NeHikahf Aj;jj;jpd; Aj;jj;ijj; Njhw;fbf;fKbatpy;iy vd;gNj. Raj;ij tpk;gq;fshf;f KbahJ vd;W. Aj;jk; ,j;jpiug;lq;fs; ahTk; xU gf;fj;jpd; fijiaNa epfohj gpuNjrj;jpy; tho;e;Jnfhz;L Aj;jk; gw;wpa nrhy;fpd;wd. mtHfs; Aj;jk; gw;wp vt;tpj mDg jpiug;glk; xd;iw vLg;gnjd;gJ mgj;jkhdJ. tKk; ,d;wpg; gj;jphpiffspy; gbg;gijAk; jhk; Nfs;tpg;gLtijAk;nfhz;L fijfis cUthf;F A-9 neLQ;rhiy jpwf;fg;gl;l gpd;dH tl fpwhh;fs;;. Aj;jj;jpd; rhuj;jpid mtHfshy; czu gFjpf;Fr; nrd;W rpq;fsj; jpiug;gl Kbatpy;iy. mtHfs; tpUJfis vjpHghHj;Jj; tpohf;fs; rpytw;iw elhj;jpAs;sJld;> jpiug;glq;fis cUthf;fpdhHfs;. tpUJfs; rpq;fs ehlfq;fisAk; NkilNaw;wpAs;sPH fpilj;jd. cz;ikapy;> mtHfs; Aj;jk; gw;wpa fs;. ,jd;NghJ jkpo; kf;fspd; gpujpgypg;G rhpahd Ghpjiyf;nfhz;bUe;jpUf;f Ntz;Lk;. vt;thwpUe;jJ? Vnddpy;> mtHfs; fiyQHfs;;; murpay;thjpfs; my;yH. A9 ghij jpwf;fg;gl;l gpd;dH> fiyA+lhf rpq; fs r%fk; jkpo; kf;fSld; njhlHGfis rpyH Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org ,jw;F vjpuhdJ mJ vy;yhtw;wiANk mopg;gJ. 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VidatHfs; nfupy;yhf;fSf;F njupahky; jq;fsJ rpWePiu mUe;jp capHgpioj;Jf;nfhz;ldu;. epiyik fw;gidnra;a Kbahjstpw;F nfhLikah fpaJ. nrg;nuk;gH 03,y; ngUk; vz;zpf;ifapyhd gps;isfs; jg;gp Xl Kaw;rpj;jdu;. jg;gpr; nry;ifapy; jPtputhjpfspd; Jg;ghf;fpg; gpuNahfj;jpy; khztHfs; gyu; epyj;jpNy tPo;e;J ,we;JNghapdu; ,e;j Ntis tpNrl gaw;rp ngw;w nfhkhz;Nlhf;fspy; xU gFjpapdu; gps;isfspy; rpyiuf; fhg;ghw;w> VidNahu; nfupy;yhf;fis Nehf;fp Jg;ghf;fpg; gpuNahfk; nra;jthW Kd;Ndw ngUk; Nkhjy; ntbj;jJ. epiyik fl;Lf;flq;fhky; nry;tij mtjhdpj;j jPtputhjpfs; gilapdiu Nehf;fpAk;> gzaf;ifjpfs; ngUkstpy; jg;ghjpUf;f ifjpfs; ,Ue;j fl;llj;jpd;kPJk; ifnawpFz;L fis tPrpdu;. mj;Jld; Gijj;Jitj;jpUe;j ntbFz;Lfis ntbf;fitf;f> ifjpfs; ,Ue;j fl;blj;jpd; $iu jfHe;J tPo;e;jJ. ,ijj; njhlu;e;J nfhkhz;Nlhf;fs; nfupy;yhf;fs;kPJ jPtpukhd jhf;Fjy; njhLf;f Vwj;jho 350,w;Fk; Nkw;gl;l mg;ghtp kdpjHfspd; capHj;jpahfj;Jld; Vida gzaf;ifjpfs; kPl;fg;gl> nfupy;yhf;fspd; gza ehlfk; Kbtpw;F tUfpd;wJ. (Nkw; $wg;gl;l jfty;fs; www.rediff.com,y; ,Ue;J ngwg;gl;lit. u\;ag; gilapdH Nkw;nfhz;l jhf;FjypNyNa gzaf; ifjpfs; ,Ue;j fl;blk; Nrjkhfpg; ngUkstpyhNdhH ,we;jjhf 2004,y; nra;jpfs; ntspahfpapUe;jik Fwpg;gplj;jf;fJ.) Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org 1997,y; ngUtpy; ele;jJ vd;d? No one to Speak for dead Peru rebels four adults and two children - National Catholic report May 30, 1997-Editorial 1997 ,y; Ugf; mkU Gul;rpfu ,af;fj;jpdu;; (MATR) ngUtpd; yPkh efuj;jpy; cs;s [g;ghdpa J}Jtupd; tjptpl ,y;yj;jpy; 72 Ngih gzaf;ifjpfshf;fp 126 ehl;fs; rpiw itj;jpUe;jdu;. Vg;gpuy; 22> 1997 ngU ehl;Lg; gilapdH Nkw;nfhz;l jhf;Fjypy; xU gzaf;ifjpAk; 2 gilapdUk; 14 NghuhspfSk; capupoe;jJld; ,e;j ePz;l gzaf; ifjpfs; ehlfk; epiwTw;wJ. ifjpfspy; mNefkhdtHfis tpLtpj;jpUe;j epiyapy;> jq;fisf; nfhy;yNtz;lhk; vdg; Nghuhspfs; nfQ;rpaNghJk; mtHfs; kpf mUfpy; itj;Jg; gilapduhy; Rl;Lf; nfhy; yg; gLfpd;whHfs;. ruzile;j Nghuhspfs; jiyapy; Rl;Lf; nfhy;yg;gl;lij kdpjhgpkhdkw;w kpNyr;rj;jdkhd nrayhfNt Clfq;fs; gy fUj;J ntspapl;ld. tajpy; Fiwe;j ,e;jf; nfupy;yhf;fspy; mNdfu; mupjhfNt ghlrhiyf;Fr; nrd;wpUe;jdu;. xU gjpd;ktaJ (teenage) ngz; Nghuhsp jdJ tPl;L epidTld; ,Ue;jjhfTk;> ,utpy; mtsJ mk;khit $g;gpl;L mOjjhfTk;> gpd;du; Vida nfupy;yhf;fs; ,g;ngz;iz gzaf;ifjpfSld; ciuahLtijj; jLf;Fk;Kfkhf KyhtJ khbapy; epWj;jpajhfTk; tpLtpf;fg;gl;l xUtH njuptpj;jhu;. Nghuspfspy; xUtu; jhd; kPz;Lk; fhl;Lf;Fg; Nghf tpUk;GtjhfTk;> kw;nwy;yhtw;iwAk;tpl jdJ czHitNa ,oe;Jtpl;ljhfTk; tUj;jj;Jld; njuptpj;jijAk;> ,uz;L ngz; nfupy;yhf;fs; Nrhg; xg;guhit (Soap Operas) njhiyf;fhl;rpapy; ghu;g;gjpy; Mu;tKld; ,Ue;jijAk;> ,d;ndhU Nghuhsp jdf;F tptrhak; nra;ar; rpwpa epyNk Njit vd;W Fwpg;gpl;lijAk; tpLtpf;fg;gl;l gzaf;ifjpfs; njuptpf;fpd;wNghJ Ugf; mkU Nghuhspfs; kPJ mDjhgNk Vw;gLfpd;wJ. l l l Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org 09th May 2007 and delve into Dharmasiri Bandaranayake actor, playwright, eminent theatre and film director. This article should, if one were to do justice to all he said, read like a Thomas Hardy novel dark, somber, uncompromisingly realistic and sad. Whether Bandaranayake became an artiste because his childhood was rather disturbing or whether he was born that way is difficult to ascertain. At any rate no one else in his family was artistically inclined, his three siblings included. His father was, at one point, a wealthy businessman. However, just before Bandaranayakes birth, his downfall had begun. This is very difficult for a middle-class family to handle, and it was into this backdrop that I was born, he said. DARK AGE DIRECTOR No childhood love and affection A wise man once said, there are three Bandaranayake didnt get the love and affection categories of discerning humans. Imagine the children crave, or at any rate, his parents didnt three types demonstrate it even if they felt it. My mother watching a puppet show. The first type would was mentally unsound but at the time, when look at the puppets, see them moving, and youre young, you can hardly figure this, so I assume they moved by themselves. The simply thought she didnt love me. His first second type, more perceptive, would look memories are lonely and it is an emotion he beyond the puppets and attribute their seems to have carried into adulthood. Perhaps movement to the strings. Few would realise I got into drama to get over this I lived in and that there is a hand beyond, which through the characters I created, and used them orchestrates the whole performance. to express myself. The fact that he studied at Horana Vidyarathna Assumption Vidyalaya, which was well-known for producing To meet one of the most brilliant men in Sri outstanding school dramas at the time and Lanka, someone whose every idea is well worth always came first at school drama festivals, also grasping, someone whose take on the life, times helped. His first acting stint was in Hemasiri and tragedies of this era is phenomenal, and Liyanages White Elephant. yet realise that, with all this, he only falls into Some people with a bad childhood become the second discerning class of the strings only criminals or otherwise problematic to society. assumption is slightly disappointing. Fortunately I had my art, and this became a Lets leave that aside however for the moment, release, Bandaranayake said. Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org It later developed into a release not only for his door and was made to turn back. Asked why emotional disappointments, but also for the he attempted suicide he said, I went into this political and social unrest he felt, and continues depression and simultaneously decided my to feel, as a result of the turmoil of our times. time of death would not be decided by a man with a gun, who wanted to shut me up. The five plays I have done so far, including Trojan Women have been political in nature, He decried the state of a country where death, and have depicted the downfall of each era. for so many people, came through a weapon All of them were very highly acclaimed though in the hands of a so-called human being. We almost everyone of them also brought about talk about Buddhism, about a 2500 year history much of criticism and death threats, on yet to me this is the most non Buddhist country Bandaranayakes life. in the world. Buddhism and Nationalism are showpieces for politicians and humbugs today. Debacle If you ask me, Buddhism is still alive in India, The first of these, titled Ekadipathi dealt with where the Buddha was born, where there is the rise of Marxism following the debacle that respect for human rights and dignity and value. left a lot of youth unable to face the challenges Look around at society in Sri Lanka. Who of globalisation. The Sinhala Only movement practices true Buddhist values like kindness, was the biggest disaster to happen during the compassion, equanimity and appreciative joy? time (the late 70s). A whole generation has Certainly not most Buddhist monks let alone suffered as a result. The JVP, to which I once the majority of people. The religion practiced belonged, was a direct result of this, by many Buddhist monks today is either SLFP, Bandaranayake said. He however got tired of UNP, JVP or war and racism! the JVP after getting into class three. Subtle imperialism They didnt cater to my needs, and didnt have He feels however that there is more to the whole what I was looking for. That was then. As for sad scenario than meets the eye. Globalisation now, lets not even talk about the JVP and their is subtle imperialism. Wars are created and cold political manoeuvers! Bandaranayake coordinated by global powers, backed by said, they, together with all other politicians, multinational companies, who want to gain were self-serving. To become a politician is to control of the natural resources of countries. lose your sensitivity. Politicians are out to fill To them it doesnt matter who wins or loses. their coffers which are why the country is where They will establish regimes that cater to their it is today. Artistes, according to him, cease to needs, pretend to support peace while be artistes the minute they take to politics, purporting war, and reap the goodies thereof. because it results in a mind-numbing de- sensitisation. Bandaranayke has little hope for his generation or that of his children. I can only appeal to He lamented the complete lack of freedom of people to try, for the sake of our grandchildren. expression today, together with a dearth of those who stood up for what they believed in. So why is this wise man still in the second The country is an intellectual desert, people puppet string category? He has solutions, or at seem to be half-dead, because they have been least questions the answers to which can help beaten down so much. Before things get better solve the dilemma in the world outside, but for though, they will have to get even worse. all his innate intelligence, one gets the feeling Dharmasiri Bandaranayake does not seem to Death threats be addressing the nagging questions and Dharmasiri was among the many artistes to conflicts within his own heart. receive death threats, following Trojan Women. That, together with the pathetic situation in the country, led him to three suicide attempts. l l l I believe I have had two births one natural birth and another, after I knocked on deaths Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org Sixth Year Anniversary Performance of THE TROJAN WOMEN Sinhala translation of the Greek anti-war play by Euripides Directed by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake On the 25th Oct. 2006 at 7.00 pm. at the Lionel Wendt Theatre-Colombo in aid of the TrikonE Arts Centre Dharmasiri Bandaranayake Director - TrikonE Arts Centre Limited tickets available at Lionel Wendt Theatre Tickets priced at Rs.500/=, 200/=, 100 Information on the Play Sunday Observer Sunday 29th June Language not a barrier Dharmasiri Bandaranayakes Trojan women makes impact on Jaffna audiences A scene from the play English translation of a Tamil review The play The Trojan Women written by Euripedes in 415 BC, brought out the tragic social issues by R. Krishnakumar in Jaffna created by war. Nobody wins a war. But the war emerges victorious Based on the plot of this play Dharmasiri in shattering human civilization and culture. Yet the Bandaranayake has written a fine play in Sinhala to war has been persistent down the ages. Likewise suit the present day Sri Lanka. After having staged the resistance to it too has been there from the very this drama more than 50 times in the southern part inception. Whether it is (fought) in ancient Greece of Sri Lanka, he also staged this play recently at or Sri Lanka the war has given nothing but destru- Vembadi Girls School in Jaffna to enable the people ction. of Jaffna to see it. The play, which portrays the atrocities of war in many dimensions, goes beyond Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org race, religion and creed and touches the feelings views freely with thawed hearts. common to all human beings. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake asked everyone to come In the Trojan war which had been prolonged for more out with their opinions openly. He also said that on than ten years, all the males of troy ere killed and the way to Jaffna he saw the city of Troy at the women left behind were taken as slaves. The Chavakachcheri. play begins while they were dragged with shackles to the stage. Time may change and the countries may differ but World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org the people who wage war are the same everywhere, which Dharmasiri Bandaranayake brings out in his play very well by making use of the techniques of The lasting significance of Brecht to suit contemporary Sri Lanka. In the scene when the dead body of the prince was The Trojan Women handed over to Hecuba for the performance of the last rituals (after the body being forcibly taken from By Piyaseeli Wijegunasingha his mother and grandmother), Dharmasiri 3 April 2000 Bandaranayake shows his creative talents by making the The Trojan women hand over the blood Back to screen version stained clothes one by one to the weeping Hecuba, who takes them and spread over the dead body. An adaptation in Sinhala of Euripides play, translation Nothing would happen by making the audience to by Ariyawansa Ranaweera, script by Ananda become overwhelmed by emotions or rather worked Wakkumbura and Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka, directed up by emotions. On the contrary, if a creative work by Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka makes a person to think soberly, it achieves a lot Euripides (485-406 BC) is considered to be the most which Dharmasiri Bandaranayake does through his socially critical of all the ancient Greek tragedians. The play. Trojan Women (415 BC) has long been considered an innovative artistic portrayal of the Trojan War and a Basically the drama is a tragedy which I thought as penetrating depiction of the barbaric behaviour of going to be filled with sounds of melancholy. But Euripides own countrymen, the Athenians, towards the after seeing it my view has changed. Just like a women and children of the people they subjugated in waterfall that flows towards the river the play goes war. on naturally focusing on the inner heart.As the drama In The Trojan Women we also see portrayed in a rather is written in Sinhala I entered the theatre thinking pronounced way, an ancient people (to be more specific, how I was going to understand it. But after seeing it women belonging to an ancient people), led by the I realised the language did not stand as a barrier. circumstances they find themselves in, to question their What can express the destruction of war more faith in the traditional pantheon of gods. For instance we effectively than the body movements? So even see Hecabe, the Queen of Troy, who has become a looking at it from this angle Dharmasiri Bandaran- prisoner of war, questioning faith in the gods as well as ayake has succeeded in producing a good play. mans dependence on them. The futility of expecting wisdom and justice from the gods is expressed again and This play being a work of art, it is important to see again. what makes it a great play. The blending of sound, Euripides play reveals how an ancient people is brought light and music in a creative way backed up by a to recognise the naiveté of the belief in a pantheon of fine set of characters with bodily and facial gods with complete power over the destinies of men. The expressions have made it a great play. Although all gods are spoken of and portrayed in The Trojan Women the characters in the play have done their part well. as jealous, head-strong and capricious. These facts Anoja Weerasinghe who played the role of Hecuba themselves would have disturbed the more politically was extraordinary. Even at the last moment, after conservative contemporaries of Euripides, and it is well losing everything and when Hecuba was about to known that he was looked upon with mistrust by ruling be taken as a slave by her enemies with shackles class ideologues of his day. on her shoulders, she carries it with the indomitable Whatever the beliefs expressed by the characters look of a queen. Euripides created, and the beliefs he himself held, man There was a discussion after we had seen the had still to travel a long way before becoming conscious drama. Everyone who took part in it exchanged their of the fact that he had the social ability to become master Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org of his own fate. What was expressed in the belief in the inability to know the fate which awaits them, whereas gods held by the Greeks of the heroic age, as well as of the women of the aristocracy are able to learn their the classical age, if not the relative helplessness of respective destinies from the messengers who arrive from social man before nature, including society? time to time from the enemy camp. The slave women bemoan not only their future, about which they are in the The Trojan Women, like any other significant literary dark, but also their being severed from the environment work, in an artistically powerful and memorable manner, and the life which they have got used to even as slaves. adds certain grains of truth to human knowledge: that That the Trojan slave women are subjected to even more man caught in the midst of the contradictions of war, degrading and bestial treatment by the enemy is clearly whether it be archaic tribal war or wars created by ruling brought out in Bandaranayakas production. classes in modern society, becomes the perpetrator of the most ruthless violence on his opponents, especially on The leaders of the Greek army consider the aristocratic defenceless women and children. female prisoners prestigious spoils of war to be divided amongst themselves. The very fact that they are Anoja Weerasinghe plays Hecabe in Dharmasiri noblewomen seems to add to the glory of the men who Bandaranayakas production. It is well known that her are able to carry them home as part of the loot won in house, with all her possessions of artistic and cultural war. value, was burned to the ground by goon squads employed by unscrupulous politicians in the recent spate Hecabe, the Trojan King Priams widow, is to become of post-presidential election violence in Sri Lanka. the slave of Odysseus, a man she abhors. Hecabes Reading the statement Weerasinghe made to the press younger daughter Polyxena is sacrificed at the tomb of regarding this incident one feels that it carries traces of the Greek hero Achilles as an offering to his corpse. Even her personal understanding of Euripides play . though Polyxena does not appear on stage, what we learn Emphasising that we are not in agreement with her of her creates in the spectators mind the image of a young politics, we would like to quote the following passage girl of child-like innocence and purity. from her statement to the press: Andromache is the widow of the renowned Trojan hero Why did they harass me in this way? It is simply because Hector, fallen in battle. Hector is Priams and Hecabes I am a woman. Maybe they thought that I am a single son. Andromache, surrounded by Greek soldiers, appears woman. They showed their power, truly their cowardice, before the Trojan women prisoners camp clutching to an unarmed and innocent actress. I have spoken out Hectors small son to her body. In lamenting her about the intimidation faced by women. I have appealed misfortune, she reveals that her lifes aim was to be a for the creation of a society that is safe for women ... and dutiful wife whose praises would be sung by the people: I have urged lawmakers to formulate a legal framework Andromache: I aimed at a glorious name and though I that will make this possible ... won this in generous measure, good fortune eluded my It is clear that particularly the phrase, I have appealed arrow. All the accomplishments that bring credit to a for the creation of a society that is safe for women, woman I strove to put into practice in the house of Hector. expresses the agony long undergone by a woman who is In the first instance in the matter where a woman gets a also a professional artist, due to social suppression as bad reputation (whether she attracts criticism or not), well as oppression. Though Anoja Weerasinghe believes namely not remaining indoors, I suppressed my longing that a society safe for women can be created by urging and stayed in the house. And inside the house I would lawmakers to formulate a legal framework, the only not tolerate the idle gossip of women but was content to society that can ensure safety for women is one have in my mind a teacher I could trust.... And it was consciously organised along socialist principleswhere because my reputation for this reached the ears of the not only the public ownership of the means of production Greek army that my doom was sealed. historically necessary for the social liberation of women, Andromache has been chosen by Neoptolemus to be his but also all the necessary resources for the all-sided concubine and she faces the dilemma of a woman who spiritual development of mankind, will be available. had been a devoted wife now forced to share the bed of a The capacity of The Trojan Women to suggest powerfully strangerone of the enemy who had killed her husband and vividly the destruction wrought on women in general and laid Troy to waste. as a result of war rests to a great extent on the fact that Andromache: Now if I dismiss any thought of my the characters differ from each other in their social beloved Hector and open my heart to my new husband, situations as well as in their personalities. it will seem that I have betrayed the dead. But if Even if one prefers to refrain from suggesting that in the alternately, I turn away from him in loathing I will earn aftermath of the Trojan War some women suffer more the hatred of my own master.... Not even hope have I, than the others, it must be stated that the Trojan slave something that is left to all mortals, nor do I delude myself women (in the plays chorus) continue to bewail their that fortune will show me any kindness, though, even Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org fancies like this bring comfort. who rules over the rest of the gods, but is that ladys slave; the blame is not mine (emphasis added). The women waiting at the camp which is their temporary dwelling as well as their prison, until their fates are finally Chorus leader: ... She speaks with fair words from a sealed, descend deeper and deeper into the depths of foul heart; now that inspires fear. misery as they are exposed to the barbarism of the enemy. We see Hecabe herself though in a different context This situation comes to a head when Talthybius, the Greek admitting the power of sexual love: messenger, returns from the enemy camp to say that the council of war has decided to execute Hectors and Hecabe: There is no lover who does not love forever. Andromaches small son, who if he lived could become The Helen we see in Bandaranayakas production of The a danger to the Greeks. Trojan Women strikes a chord of deep sympathy within Hecabes elder daughter Cassandra had been the maiden the modern spectator through her honest and faithful priestess of Apollo. Talthybius reveals that Cassandra had endeavour to understand herself. Due to this the spectator been chosen as a special prize by the Greek king also comes to recognise in Helen a precursor of many a Agamemnon to warm his bed in the hours of darkness. tragic heroine portrayed in modern literatureespecially in the classical novelwho, due to sexual love outside In the Sinhala version of The Trojan Women, Cassandra wedlock, is prompted to turn her back on the institution. captivates the imagination of the audience as a sexually That Helen had not been happy in her marriage to inhibited young woman whose perceptiveness and Menelaus is revealed not only by what she says, but also intelligence are of an extraordinary brilliance. Cassandra by the male chauvinistic and over-bearing attitudinising and Helen stand out as the characters that hold most of Menelaus when he meets her outside the women appeal for a modern audience. Helens situation is also prisoners camp. distinguished by the fact that she is the only woman targeted by the Trojan women themselves for hatred and It is clear Helen has not been happy in Troy either condemnation. They accuse her of being the cause of the especially during the years Troy has been under siege by war that has brought death to all the Trojan warrior heroes invading Greeks. Helen, when she appears in front of and has culminated in the downfall of Troy itself. She is the women prisoners camp, seems not only estranged also considered to be the bane of her own kinsmenthe from the Trojan women, she is also rather aloof from the Greeks. destruction wrought on the Trojans by the invaders. The fact that her attire is different from that of the other women In the eyes of the Trojan women, including Hecabe, Helen prisoners shows that she is being treated deferentially by lacks womanly virtues and is completely bereft of the Greek soldiers. Although Hecabe pounces on the fact refined sentiments. Her renowned beauty is a snare that that Helen is showily attired as further proof of her she calculatingly and opportunistically utilises to moral laxity, the audience, which learns that Helen had manipulate men like Paris in her insatiable quest for been forcibly taken in marriage by another Trojan leader sensual pleasures and luxurious living. after Pariss death, realises the absurdity of Hecabes Helen, challenging Hecabes view and defending herself, accusation. In the eyes of the spectator, Helen remains a traces, in a manner that would have seemed logical to woman who manages to keep her head high in spite of Athenian theatre audiences of the day, the source of the trying, painful and difficult circumstances. calamity in the whims and fancies of headstrong and It is clearly with the intention of bringing the play closer capricious gods and goddesses. Anyway, it is significant to the present-day Sri Lankan audience that that in doing so she blames the goddess of sexual love Bandaranayaka has incorporated a group of soldiers Aphroditefor her own elopement with Paris. Of course, dressed in Sri Lankan armed force camouflage uniforms Helens claim is in accordance with the mythological into the play. These soldiers act as a part of the Greek sources from which Euripides drew his materialbut this army and are shown harassing the women prisoners. The does not necessarily prevent the modern spectator from prisoners, while justifiably denouncing the invaders, also concluding that Helen is justifying her elopement with highly praise the merits of laying down ones life for the Paris on the basis of having fallen in love with him: sake of the motherland. Helen: The man ...... whether Alexandros or Paris is the In a context where Bandaranayaka has included soldiers name you wish to give him, had a powerful goddess at dressed in Sri Lankan army uniforms those declarations his side when he came. This was the man you left behind can all too easily be interpreted as a defence of the in your home, you worst of husbands and sailed away program of national separatism. from Sparta to the land of Crete. So much for that matter. Next I will put a question not to you but to myself. Why The remarkable success of Bandaranayakas production was it that I left your house to go away, quite in my right is due not only to the fact that it powerfully conveys the mind, with a stranger, betraying my country and home? essential content of Euripides work, but also because Punish the goddess and show yourself stronger than Zeus, the staging satisfactorily accomplishes the difficult task Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org of generating in the minds of the spectators the mood Jehan Aloysius Menelaus also deserves mention. and atmosphere contained in the original play. Aloysius, in the magnificent robes of a Greek aristocrat keeping up the regal mien, managed to reveal the essential This success is due in large measure to the fact that weaknesses of the character too: a man whose craving Bandaranayaka has been sensitive to something that had for a woman provided neither the loving understanding to be taken into consideration if a play like the The Trojan nor the social protection she longed for. Junita Belings Women, which belongs to the Western classical tradition rather low-keyed performance as Helen provided an of drama, was to be successfully staged in a country like attractive contrast to the other female characters. Sri Lanka. He sought the cooperation of actors and actresses as well as theatre technicians with a knowledge The music is by Rukantha Gunathilake, and here too it is of the latter tradition. In other words, the director has clear that Bandaranayaka has scored with his willingness engaged artistic personnel from Western-style theatre to break new ground. groups in Sri Lanka to complement the creative dramatic The Trojan Women has been criticised as too loosely knit talent of the Sinhala theatre. In Bandaranayakas and lacking cohesion. The action takes place entirely in production of The Trojan Women, the choreography of the camp where the women prisoners are kept. Soldiers Jerome L. de Silva has contributed much to the success and messengers continuously arrive with messages and of the production. tidings from the Greek camp and the council of war being Bandaranayaka was judicious in the selection of the cast held there. The audience is made to understand that the too, and all the actors and actressessome from the Greek ships are ready to set sail for home. The action Western-style theatreperform their respective roles more or less consists in the women, one by one, being with keen artistic comprehension of the individual taken to the enemy ships. Therefore the very structure of characters as well as of the particular situation portrayed the play gives it the appearance of a string of episodes, in the play. each coloured by the specific personality of the woman prisoner who figures prominently in it. Special mention should be made of Meena Kumari Perera who kept the audience almost spell-bound with her It should be emphasised that the structure in no way Cassandraclearly a challenging and exhausting role, detracts from the basic unity of the play, which lies in its lucidly and exhilaratingly performed. Her performance main theme: the devastation created by war in the lives reveals an artistic sensibility that demands recognition. of women and children. l l l Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org CENTRE FOR PERIYAR STUDIES BHARATHIDASAN UNIVERSITY PALKALAIPERUR, TIRUCHIRAPPALLI - 620 024, Tamilnadu, India. Porf. S.V. Rajadurai Head It was a great privilege to meet Mr. Dharamasiri Bandaranayake, one of the outstanding personalities in the field of performing and visual arts in Sri Lanka. It was sometime at the end of 2004 I decided to visit Sri Lanka to meet my old friends. I traveled a great distance from Colombo to Kandy, Batticaloa, Trinco and Jaffna and left that beautiful but tormented island just a few days before it faced the wrath of tsunami, as if the nature had decided the destructions wrought by the ongoing war was not enough to persecute its inhabitants. I had already heard of Mr. Dharmasiri, through the theatre reviews in Sri Lankan journals and dailies and also from the conversations with Dr K.Sivathamby and Dr Maunaguru. There was also in me a vague memory of the review of his film by Regi Siriwardena (in Lanka Guardian, I believe) whom I always considered a great teacher. Whichever Tamil friends I spoke to, he or she always insisted that it is a must for me to meet Mr. Dharamasiri. Every one of them offered to introduce me to him. But he spared them the trouble. He drove all the way down to meet me in my hosts place near the port in Colombo. I never expected to meet someone so unassuming and so un self-conscious. His simplicity was striking. He was a little shy of talking about himself. May be his discomfiture in communicative English, I thought for a moment. No, he was man full to the brim. I am a great lover of theatre and I had just seen Medea as interpreted by a leading British Theatre Company. It was quite disappointing and at some points very vulgar. I never had an opportunity of watching Mr. Dharmasiris The Trojan Women on stage. The best I could do was to watch it in CDs and then DVDs. The powerful impact it could make was visible when I showed just a few scenes from it to an enlightened audience in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. I and my friends had organized screening of some of the documentary films of Trikone Art Centre of which Mr. Dharmasiri is the brain. It suddenly dawned in our heads why the pro-war chauvinists in Sri Lanka are after the throat of Mr. Dharmasiri. I had the privilege of watching his Sinhala version of Sartres Men without Shadows at Colombo. I was personally invited by him. Throughout my adult life Sartre has remained a great inspiration to me and I have read almost all his plays translated into English. Mr. Dharmasiri had transformed the French play, set in the background of Nazi occupation of France, into something that had an immediate resonance in the war torn Sri Lanka. It brought out the ugly, immoral aspect of all wars. The audience in Tiruchirapalli could watch only two of his documentary films: Koothu and Drums of Sri Lanka. It was such an aesthetic pleasure. But most of us felt ashamed of not having known such great artistic treasures created and preserved for posterity by the Sinhala and Tamil peoples. We remained mesmerized by the captivating rhythms of Sinhala drums and by the nimble but intricate movements of the Tamil Koothu artists. The mask dance, I alone had the privilege to watch. The artists breathe life into the masks which remain ever watchful of you. All of us are indebted to Mr. Dharmasiri for this marvelous journey into the creative world of Sinhala people and also of their Tamil counterparts. It is the universality of the art that binds us all together as Homo sapiens, fated to toil, suffer and enjoy collectively in the only planet we have. S. V. Rajadurai Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org Art cannot be used to indoctrinate It is more about appreciation, says Sri Kooththu, Vadda Kalari, Ravanasen and Lankan documentary filmmaker Drums of Sri Lanka rocked the country portraying the in-depth cultural similarity between the Sinhalese and Tamils, Mr. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake Bhandaranayake came up with a play that was screened over three times in LTTE-dominated TIRUCHI: We strongly areas, making him the only believe that the impact of Sinhalese director to screen his theatre would be effective works in that part of the enough to spread the spirit of country in the last 30 years. anti-war amongst people. Sri Lanka would get back its The Trojan Women, the Greek serenity very soon, says play, originally written by Dharmasiri Bhandaranayake, Euripides, was tailored to one among the many Sinhala portray the desolations of the filmmakers, who voice their innocent victims, especially protests through stages and women and children. It was screens. screened across the globe, with translations in English and Amidst the rumblings of war in Tamil. the country, his is a hopeful voice of peace. Sri Lanka would have been a While majority of the artistes use theatre as a serene multicultural country, but for the ethnic platform to voice their protest against war, the strife, he says. Despite two murder attempts pro-war groups who have been using arts as a on him, his films and documentaries dont propaganda medium begun to retreat. They seem to end their criticisms of the ongoing war. understood how inadequate it was to use When his film career, wherein he started as an theatre and music as a medium to propagate actor, was on the upswing, he quit filmmaking war. Art is more about appreciation and cannot and took to documentaries to cover the horror be used as a medium to indoctrinate, says Mr. of war. Bhandaranayake who was on a cultural tour to South India recently. His maiden documentary Echoes of War, made in 1987, earned him quite a number of Expressing concern over the destructions admirers. It talked about the dilapidating caused by the war, he says that the situation cultural monuments, one of the casualties of has only worsened down the years. We saw incessant war. We forget to protect the nation no improvement even during the cease-fire in an urge to protect the races, he says. period. Now the displacement has reached tragic proportions. Cultural interventions The country, he observes, has been fast losing through theatres and street plays are oppressed the coherence of its multicultural history. His ruthlessly, he says. six set of documentaries are seen as an attempt to reconnect the lost dimensions of the culture S. Aishwarya shared by the Tamil and Sinhalese. Even as a host of his documentaries including - Courtsey: The Hindu, 6.8.2007 Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org A New Documentary Series From Dharmasiri Bandaranayake By Prasanna Ratnayake 17 July, 2007 Countercurrents.org E.J. Hobsbawm & T.O. Ranger have shown in The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 1992) that each post-Independence country is keen to establish their unique culture as it emerges from the shadows of colonialism. In Sri Lanka, this re- invention process focused exclusively on Sinhala culture and ignored the many other traditions which had contributed to the nations identity. This es- trangement, quite intentional, means that the coun- try as a whole has been losing the coherence of its interlocked cultural histories; a process which un- derlies other mortal antagonisms. The establishment of authentic Sri Lankan traditions has some idiosyncratic roots. In the late 19th century, Colonel Henry Steele Olcott, an Buddhist folk tradition. These gentleman scholars American, visited the island and took it upon saw themselves as serving a noble mission. himself to make some contributions to local culture. Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra was a He invented a Buddhist flag for the Sinhalese, Professor of Literature at Peradiniya University. A taught them to sing carols with a Buddhist message cultural critic and a specialist on Indian dramaturgy and introduced Vesak cards on the model of and the work of I.A. Richards and T.S. Eliot; Eliots Christmas cards. Like many of our official criticism of secular society resonated for Professor traditions, these rituals and ritual objects were Sarachchandra. As Eliot was committed to the established within the past 100 years. Catholic Church, so Professor Sarachchandra was In 1948 Sri Lanka was granted Independence, a year committed to the Sinhala cultural project. In 1952 after it had been won in India. The two nations went his authoritative book Sinhala Folk Drama was about rediscovering and re-legitimating their published by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. It cultures in very different ways. In India, the established the orthodoxy, the traditions and forms multiplicity of traditions inspired wide-ranging which would thenceforth be understood as the sole acknowledgement of these diverse contributions. In authentic expressions of the nations culture. Sri Lanka the complexity of its interrelated cultures Although Professor Sarachchandra had carried out was reduced to a narrow Sinhala Buddhist his research in all regions of the country, his book representation of the countrys heritage, thereby intentionally subsumed all non-Sinhala forms as suppressing the Tamil, Muslim, Berger and Malay elements of the Southern tradition. traditions which had survived the amnesias of the Professor Sarachchandra then wrote two stage colonial period. plays, Maname and Sinhabahu, based on his This politicising of Sri Lanka as a monocultural researches. To this day these dramas are performed authoritarian state was initiated by S.W.R.D. over and over again, always greeted as classic works Bandaranayake in 1956. There were many of our national heritage always understood as intellectuals behind this project to Sinhalize the the Sinhala tradition. countrys history and establish the parameters of a Theatre Education, this set of documentary films nationalist culture. Two of these ideologues behind from Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, addresses the the throne, Professor Sarachchandra and the famous discrimination and exclusion at the core of this post- writer Martin Wickramasinghe, produced Independence political manoeuvring to establish influential theories and books about the Sinhala our traditions. But these films are not just about Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org the theatre. They open a new act in our social, In the 1960s, the late Prof. S. Vithiananthan inspired political, cultural and ethnic discourses by by the creative work of the late Prof. E.R. reconnecting to lost dimensions of our shared Sarachchandra in the Sinhala theatre took cultural legacies. The following notes indicate some Vadamody and Thenmody kooththu styles of aspects of what Dharmasiri reveals in these Batticaloa for his Kooththu revival and modified it documentaries. to fit into the proscenium stage for modern audience, Dharmasiri noted. Ravanesan is a re- Kooththu and Kooththu Workshop creation by Prof. S. Mounaguru. In 2003, when Kooththu is the traditional theatre of the Tamil Dharmasiri arranged to stage the play at the Lionel community of Sri Lanka, rich in colours, gestures Wendt Theatre, this aroused the enmity of the and rhythms. There are many styles in Kooththu Sinhala fundamentalists and death threats were and it is a narrative theatre that is performed all issued to Dharmasiri and the others involved in the through the night in the Vadda Kalari, (round stage) production. It had to be stopped. in the villages. The performers dance and sing Traditional Drums around the Annaviyar and the Sabaiyor who are in the centre of the Vadda Kalari. Playing maththalam The Sinhala nationalist project was applied to music and sallari and supporting the performers with as well as to dance and drama. The authority in this pinpattu (background singing), The audience sits instance was C.deS. Kulathilake, who produced his around the Jana Sangeetha Siddhantha (Theory of Folk Music) in 1984. Although he too had travelled, collected Vadda Kalari. and documented the music of many communities, According to Dharmasiri, the late Prof. S. Viththian- this book again reproduced only those from the anthan modified the traditional Kooththu, and in Southern Sinhala region, thereby contributing to the the process of modification he re-shaped Kooththu obfuscation of any other ethnicity and religion. into a proscenium stage with Annaviyar and Kathakali and Bhangra Sabaiyor positioned in front of the proscenium stage of the auditorium. He used modern lighting and Theatre Education is not limited to dance-drama introduced traditional instruments such as and marginalised ethnic traditions in Sri Lanka. It savanikkai, udukku and sanggu with maththalam also covers the Indian traditional dance form, and sallari and made changes in costumes, make- Kathakali, and the current Europeanised Punjabi up and music. Students of Peradeniya University music known as Bhangra. These films explore back- took part in this modification process of the late Prof. ground, technical production and the nature of their S. Viththiananthan in the 1960s and Prof. S. music and dance forms. Mounaguru who was at that time an undergraduate Unsettling Memories of the same University, not only played the major role in it but also composed the script with the This film, an Indian play made with the Aruvani guidance of the late Prof. S. Viththiananthan and community, deals with another tradition of South Prof.K. Sivathamby. Before the making of this Indian drama, so much more inclusive than that of documentary, only one Sinhala commentator, Sri Lanka. The South Indian theatres capacity for Professor M.H. Gunathilake, in his two-volume embracing the wider social realities of its audience Kooththu (2000), had investigated this element of political, practical, generational could be an our overall cultural heritage. These two films on inspiration and a model for the directions which a Kooththu, give this traditional dance-drama the liberated Sri Lankan drama might pursue. recognition it deserves. Doothikavo (Mission Everlasting) Ravanesan This film is about a student drama produced at the The story of Ravanesan revolves round Ravanans Holy Family Convent in Kaluthara. The young struggle to keep up his stature of heroism in the people had produced a play bringing together two face of crisis. Ravanesan portrays the sufferings and recent news stories which had affected them: the struggles of good-hearted people who are trapped experience of Rachel Corrie, the American girl who into the war machine. The abduction of Seethai, went to Palestine and was killed there, and the siege followed by the message from Raman and the and slaughter at the school in Beslan. The students manner in which it was conveyed to Ravanan by wrote a play within a play, staging the Corrie story the messenger Anggathan, posed a challenge to his as a drama being prepared in the Russian school, heroic qualities and leads to his tragedy. It is also playing Beslan children rehearsing their perfor- the tragedy of the people around him. mance of the story from Palestine. After their Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org capture by the Chechen guerrillas, the Sri Lankan/ Dharmasiri worked on the Theatre Education series Beslan children keep their spirits up by continuing over a period of 4-5 years. The Ceasefire Agreement to work on their Palestinian drama. enabled him to move around the country, to record dance-drama from the North and East and to This play, written and performed without any rediscover and emancipate some of our hidden guidance or contribution from the Sri Lankan peace traditions. Beyond its contribution in the domains industry, fascinated Dharmasiri and his of drama and dance; this series widening of our documentary includes reflections by the children cultural spectrum, can enable new sociological and teachers involved. This extraordinary anti-war discourses and heal some of the fractures in the intervention, the first for many years, again attracted nations knowledge and recognition of its diverse the wrath of the Sinhala Buddhist fundamentalists. and unique treasures. Significantly, the trilingual Death threats were sent to the children and to the subtitles enable all Sri Lankas to connect to these adults who had worked with them. The play was important films. stopped. Sri Lankas political problems cannot be adequately Method and Significance understood without recognising the decades of Compared with European producer directors, systematic discrimination and exclusion from our Dharmasiri works with simple equipment in a style cultural life of our non-Sinhala heritages. more like guerrilla or Raindance filmmaking than Dharmasiri Bandaranayake has made it a personal broadcast documentary. Although the economy of responsibility to recover and re-present aspects of his method is appropriate to the material and our true traditions essential to the forging of a environments he is dealing with, his technical culturally coherent and liberated future for Sri expertise and personal skills deliver a sophisticated Lanka. set of films. © Prasanna Ratnayake Documentaries and Feature Films of Dharmasiri Bandaranayake 01. Sarasvathie Pooja - Dance programme with Music ( 8 minutes ) 02. Kooththu - Sri Lankan Tamil Traditional Dance Drama - Introduced by Prof. K. Sivathamby - Tamil (22 minutes with English subtiltled 03. Drums f Sri Lanka - (English - 22 minutes.) 04. Nonchi and Kinkini Kolama - Traditional Sinhala Folk Dance. Introduction in English 05. Kathakali - Traditional Indian Dance Drama. 21 minutes - Tamil version and English version. 06. Troy has Fallen - but its massage endures - a documentary film about The Trojan Women - Anti war Stage play Directed by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake - 16 Minutes with English subtitled. 07. Doothikavo (Mission Everlasting) Documentary film about Anti War school play - 30 minutes / Tamil and English version 08. Unsettlimg Memories - An Indian Tamil play - Directed by Mangai - with English subtitled.( 01 hour and 18 minutes) 09. Kooththu Workshop - Sri Lankan Trditional Tamil dance workshop - In Tamil with English subtitled. - 01 hour 38 minutes. 10. Ravanesan - Sri Lankan Tamil Trditional Dance Drama - Directed by Prof. S. Maunaguru / 1 hour 58 minutes with English subtitled 1. Hansa Vilak - (Swan Lake) 120 minutes - Black & white 1980 2. Thunveni Yamaya - ( Third Part of the Night ) 120 minutes - Black & White -1983 3 Bawa Duka - (Sorrow of Exsistence - Part One) - 195 Minutes - Color 4. Bawa karma - ( Sorrow of Exsistence - Part Two) - 135 minutes - Color Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org TAMIL INFORMATION CENTRE & VIMBAM present a collection of documentary films of Dharmasiri Bandaranayake 20 October 2007 Trinity Centre East Avenue, London E12 Digitized by Noolaham Foundation. noolaham.org | aavanaham.org