MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2017 PAGE 25 At one of her film screenings With their children E mail : [email protected] At their wedding Some of her awards With Geetha Kumarasinghe in Akke Mata Awasara Books written by them both ONE CHANGE IN LIF ORTRAIT I would have liked to have more grandchildren. MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS We wanted to travel to Denmark from Germany once. A friend dropped us at a railway station and told us to get off the train once it stops and get on the other train which will be on the next OF INNOCENCE track. We were carrying the huge reels of Tharanaya then. The train stopped in a very remote area. We got off but there were no other trains in sight. We tried asking for directions but could not find anyone speaking English. After a while we saw a German lady looking at us. We RUWINI JAYAWARDANA gave her a Ceylon Tea bag and spoke to her. She finally told us how to nnocence seems to be her hallmark and according to seasoned journalist Arthur get to the harbour. Once in the harbour we encountered a problem because we did not have visas. My friend had told us that will not U Amarasena, this is the first thought that hit him when he lay eyes on a photo- be an issue. We explained our purpose to the officers there and graph of her for the first time in the early 1960s. After tying the knot in 1964 since the authorities were not in sight they let us go. In France Sriyani Amarasena nee Weerakoon and Arthur have come a long way, passing too we encountered a similar experience because though the With Gamini the silver jubilee of their marriage. He credits their long time alliance to it being French knew English they do not like to speak any Fonseka in other language except French. Ibased on unwavering trust and understanding. Sriyani has turned to directing Asha Dasin now and is heavily involved in writing scripts for her productions. Starting off her stint with Dath Kekulu Pala she has directed a series of teledramas shot in Sri Lanka In UK with the as well as abroad. This includes Sakura Mal, the first teledrama to be shot in Japan. She Attending cast of one of her has directed a few movies too: Dese Mal Pipila, Kulagaya and Tharanaya. Directing a a function teledramas teledrama CHARACTERS SIMILAR TO HER Sriyani shares similar traits to her characters in films like Kalyani Ganga and Raththaran Amma. Both characters embody characteristics found in villagers. Kalyani lives near the sea but embodies an innocent nature. Her role in Raththaran Amma is somewhat different but still has a calm attitude. Sarojini in Viraga is quite unlike her though. Sriyani did not accept all the roles that were offered to her. Though she did not choose innocent characters along she got some good offers to act as innocent and romantic characters in quality productions at that time. She also took a liking to give life to such roles. She was not a mischievous person in any way so she did not get offers to do such roles. FAVOURITE CHARACTER I love watching her play Sundari in Desa Nisa. It is one of Dr Lester James Peries’ films she has taken part in. It is a blind character. I think she played the role well. That film brought her immense popularity. SHE IS ‘THE ONE’ I guess it goes with the term ‘it was written in the stars’. Through our two year association I realized that she was not a mischief maker. Our ideas also matched. We were both also into FIRST MEETING writing. Whenever she takes up the pen I do not disturb her and vice versa. It was an odd meeting! I was working in ‘Davasa’ when its editor D B Dhanapala came This ‘understanding’ between us was the foundation of our marriage. up with the idea of launching a marriage proposal corner in the newspaper. Since it was a new concept he wanted the youth in the staff to give details about ourselves to publish in the newspaper so that the readers will get an idea of how to apply. THE WIFE AND MOTHER There were about 15 of us youngsters in the staff and we all applied by stating Though Sriyani went back to acting after our son was born, she always kept tabs on our two our details and preferences. I got about 360 letters. I began looking through the children and me. She was her parents’ only child so we lived together with them. This made things letters and came across one which interested me. Sriyani’s mother had sent easier in bringing up our children. Our daughter, Inoka Nilmini, and our son, Sampath Chandana, the letter and had also included one of her photographs. She has stated were born about one and a half years apart. Since her parents took over matters of bringing up our that Sriyani is into arts too. I was also quite taken by her picture.I told children Sriyani and I were able to travel abroad a lot. my friend Augustus Vinayagaratna about this letter and he suggested We have passed our 50th wedding anniversary. Throughout these years of togetherness Sriyani and I that we play a visit. We visited her home in Battaramulla disguised have shared a good understanding about each other. We come from the same field so we were familiar with as two other people. I introduced myself as Silva and Augustus the nature of each other’s careers. Though Sriyani is mostly known as an actress she is also a good writer. She became Perera. We also lied about our professions and other has written a few novels and she writes her own scripts for her productions. details but coming back Augustus told me not to let go of this opportunity as the lass seemed nice and was very pretty.I sent With an a letter relating my true details to them. Then I notified my award father. Sriyani’s parents also sent their consent. We were in a ACTING POST MARRIAGE two year relationship before we got married on November 11, Many actors’ and actresses’ marriages are on the rock these days. This 1964. She was acting in Dayananda Gunawardane’s stage drama did not happen to us because we have a good understanding about Naribena those days. each other. Since I was involved in cinema related magazines I I related this story to Dhanapala and he was amazed. He called knew about the actors’ and actresses’ whereabouts. I also had a lot me a ‘lucky man’ and said that they have hit the jackpot from of faith in her that she would not do anything to tarnish her their first attempt to get couples hitched. name in the field. Anyway I told her that I have no problems with her continuing to act as long as she chose good roles and her mother too stated that they only allow her to act in quality pro- ductions. Sriyani has acted in a short film called Wings Over Ceylon pro- duced to promote the Sri Lankan Air Force. Dr Lester James Peries has seen her and had expressed his desire to get her for one of his films. Dr Tissa Abeysekara visited me to seek my help to find her. I simply brought out her photograph from my drawer and asked if it was she they were looking for. Tissa was astounded. Then I told him that she is the one I am going to marry. However Sriyani could not act in that particular film because our daughter was born soon after we got married. She got the opportunity to act again in Golu Hadawatha along with our daughter who was three years old by then. After our son was born I gave her permission to get back into acting. BEST GIFT The best gift that Sriyani has given me is our two children. They are like our two eyes. Inoka was employed in Air Lanka as an airhostess before she quit her job to look after her daughter, Manasha. Sampath is employed as a tea taster. Both took career paths that are different from ours. TITLE FOR SRIYANI’S BIOGRAPHY It is difficult to take on a mammoth task like writing Sriyani’s biog- raphy. Maybe something like ‘A Life Story of an Actress’ will do for the title. I have chronicled details about the history of our cinema start- ing off from it rooting from Tamil films. The book titled ‘Sinhale Maha Cinema Vanshaya’ comes in several volumes. The first is already out and the second is in print. I am currently writing the Sriyani Amarasena third volume..