Voice behind ‘Dosthara Honda Hitha’

Interview with artiste Parakrama Perera

Not many will recognize Parakrama Perera by his name. Not many will recognize him from his picture on this page. Yet, for someone who has watched early Rupavahini cartoons dubbed in Sinhala, his voice will not be unfamiliar. ‘Puru puru, Maalu katta dan api wada pataaan gannayi yanne’ , ‘Bibili nagina belikatu...’ – these phrases, with their unique voices, are forever etched in our minds. It was Parakrama Perera who voiced these characters. He was the Poos Lokka in Pissu Poosa, Doctor as well as Chaw-Chaw in Dosthara Honda Hitha and Captain Hadock in Tintinge Weera Kriya. This would suffice as introduction, but these are just a few characters he voiced, loved by thousands.

Born and raised in Suduwella, Colombo 10, Parakrama started his journey as a child artiste in Children’s programs of Lama Ranga Pitaya at Radio Ceylon, since one of his relatives took him there, to make his childhood dream come true. As a child Parakrama loved listening to radio and wished one day he could visit Radio Ceylon to observe how the voice he listens to through radio comes to his house. Later he received the opportunity to work as a dubbing artiste under veteran Titus Totawatte. As a young artiste he was able to gain recognition for his talents through Madol Doova Radio Drama, playing the role of Jinna. Kuhubuwo, Nandi Wishala, Handiye Gedara and Landesi Dupatha were among the popular radio dramas he contributed to, early in his career.

“I enjoyed playing the roles of Handiye Gedara Nawarathnam and Vandabona in Jiljona and Vandabona very much. Both stories were loved by their listeners and those characters were highly appreciated,” he recalled. “Taking part in radio programs during this period was like attending a university. Veterans like Karunarathna Abeysekara, Chithrananda Abeysekara, Prabha Ranathunga, Nanda Jayamanne, Siril Rajapaksha, Madawala S Ratnayake, Sugathapala de Silva and Dayananda Gunawardana were our gurus. They guided us so well that we were able to build our careers.”

He first met Martin Wickramasinghe following an invitation to visit him at his home as an appreciation for a job well done in voicing Upali and Jinna in Madol Doova radio drama. Rohana Siriwardana, whom Parakrama mentions as his ‘mango’ friend in the field, played the role of Upali.

His late colleague Premakeerthi de Alwis was a sensitive topic for Parakrama. “He called me Para,” he recalled. “Although I was not as competent as he was in presenting programs, he chose me as his partner in the second studio for some of his programs. It brings me to tears when I recall how good this man was to me.”

Taking about Prem actually brought Parakrama to tears. “His mother and mine were good friends and I remember an incident where we all went on a trip to Kataragama,” he recalled an incident when he accidently erased a news making picture Premakeerthi took.

During this period Premakeerthi was a journalist for the Visithura Newspaper. He captured a picture of a janitor who was on his ways to clean a toilet with a bucket of water. He does an incomplete job. Knowing this, another follows him with another bucket of water. Prem noticed this and was able to capture this after waiting for a long time. “He asked me to hold on to the camera and went away. I didn’t know how to operate the camera but I wanted to try to take a picture of our mothers cooking for us. Unfortunately, I have pressed the button while the same film was on, and Prem’s news picture was destroyed. I thought this would ruin our trip. But he was a sensitive man, he understood my immature need,” he said.

It was on Premakeerthi’s suggestion that Totawatte invited Parakrama for Rupahavini dubbing. Apart from Pissu Poosa and Dosthara Honda Hitha, he voiced Captain Hadock in Tintin, and other notable characters in Gulliverge Suvisariya, Situwara Montha Kristho, Nothradamaye Kuda, Malgudi Dawasa, Oshin and Senehase Ayithiya. He also mentioned his colleagues Saman Athawudahetti, Karunathilaka Handuwala and Rohana Siriwardena, Geetha Kanthi Jayakodi and Neranjala Sarojini with much affection.

He also spoke highly about Athula Ransirilal, who follows in the footsteps of Titus Totawatte. “His commitment to the field is extraordinary. It’s a blessing to have such people or else the quality of dubbing as well as the field itself would collapse,” he said. He went on about how the hard work of Ransirilal had enriched the locally produced cartoons. He specifically mentioned the recent cartoon programs Kumara Gee, Sunil Gee as well as Tomiya saha Kitiya, Andarege Katha and Pancha Thantraya. “These cartoons are created and produced locally. Therefore, I believe that these are better for our children as it brings out Sri Lankan essence,” he iterated. “It’s nice to see Sri Lankan productions on television. We have been watching foreign cartoons for a long time,” he added.

He also spoke about the new dubbed Asian television dramas telecasted in Rupavahini. “All these are carefully selected dramas with great story value. It is no surprise that people love these,” he said adding that they are now working on another new drama named Siri meti Siththarawi which is woven around a Korean legend who lived in the 16th Century.

Although he was a voice artiste, his fulltime career was at Colombo Municipal Council. He retired from his job as a supervisor recently after a service of 42 years. A felicitation ceremony was held two years ago, to appreciate his service to the CMC as well as a dubbing artiste. He currently works as a consultant to the voice training institute, ‘Voice of Sri Lanka’. “Voice training is essential for an artiste. But for a person who doesn’t have an inborn talent this will be a difficult task,” he said. He also said that the demand for skilled voice artistes are now less compared to the era in which the field was established. “New technology allows unskilled people to come off as skilled,” he said, expressing his grief over the lack of demand.

He pointed out that the recognition a voice artiste receives is less compared to the recognition received by actors. “People don’t recognize us when they see us, they barely remember our names. Satisfaction comes with the love they express for the characters we voice,” he said. If the voice artiste has not done an exceptional job, the audience would not fall in love with the characters they voice.

Pics by Ravindra Dharmathilake

An actor’s philosophy which revolves around image

Renowned artiste Dharmapriya Dias talks us through his acting career which is dotted with many accolades, including the award for the Best Actor for his role in Hyena at the State Drama Award in 2003

Award winning actor Dharmapriya Dias believes that a fine comedy play is not merely an act which makes people laugh at low grade jokes and impersonation of famous personalities or speaking dirty.

“I don’t understand why people should laugh at mistakes made when speaking a foreign language or insults made on another human being. Saadaya Marai - Salli Hamarai doesn’t fall under this category. This is an attempt to create meaningful humor without using profanity or laughing at the expense of one’s culture,” Dias told The Nation while speaking about his latest stage play direction Saadaya Marai Salli Hamarai adapted from the farce Funny Money written by the British Playwright Ray Cooney.

Dharmapriya is known in the field for his commitment for acting. According to him he has been committed to acting from school days at Piliyandala Madya Maha Vidyala. “I was curious about acting since I was very young. I always wondered how children got to play different roles in Vesak Dramas played near Kesbewa Wewa. I wanted to know why I couldn’t play a role,” he recalled how he enjoyed theater as a child.

Young Dharmapriya was confused why the king from the Vesak play rode a bicycle to work. “The person who wore jewelry and shimmering costumes on Vesak day, went to work wearing office attire. This puzzled me,” he said that it was under his school drama master Premkumar Karunarathne that he learnt the ABC in drama. Their work including Muthu Etaye Geethaya which won many accolades in school drama competitions. 

Dharmapriya’s firsts contribution to popular theater was in Bandula Vithanage’s Romaya Gini Gani. “Working with this drama crew was like a practical workshop for me. I learnt much about popular theater,” he reminisced. With this debut drama, he received the opportunity to work with veteran dramatists the likes of KB Herath, Jayalath Manoratne, Rajitha Dissanayaka, Neil Alas, Pujitha de Mel, Sarath Kothalawala, Chamika Hathlawaththa and Thumindu Dodamtenna.

He specifically mentioned the roles he played in S Karunaratne's Hyena, Rajitha Dissanayake’s Apasu Harenna Be, Mata Wedi Thiyanne Nadda, Thumindu Dodamtenna’s Arundathi and Thilak Nandana Hettiarachchi’s Guti Kamata Niyamithayi as the roles he mostly enjoyed playing. His critically acclaimed role in Athula Pathirana’s Dolahak is also noteworthy. 

Dharmapriya has won many awards including Best Actor - State Drama Award for his performance in Hyena directed by Chamika Hathlawaththa in 2003, Best Set Designer for Ruwan Malik Peiries’ Dasa Mallige Bangalawa (Dasa Malli’s Bungalow) in 2004, Best Choreography in his production Gehenu Lamai Weda Arambathi and Youth Drama Festival’s Assistant Actor for Lanka Ishan Kankanamge’s Sanda Sewanella in 1997. Saadaya Marai Salli Hamarai is his second stage direction while Gehenu Lamai Weda Arambathi marked his debut.

His talent for acting is not limited to the stage. He said that he still enjoys his work as a radio and television voice artiste. He began working with radio and television during the early stages of his career. He considers the opportunities he received while working with teledrama directors Nalan Mendis, Sudath Rohana and DG Somapala as blessings. “Experiences gained on stage helped me immensely in adapting to teledramas and cinema,” he explained. “Having to act in Wimalarathna Adhikari’s Ingammaruwa was an extraordinary experience in the teledrama field,” he said remembering how teledramas employed radical themes, couple of years ago. 

Dharmapriya was regarded as the Best Actor for his first lead in the internationally acclaimed movie Machang by Oscar nominated producer Ubarto Passilini. Dharmapriya played minor roles in Vijitha Gunaratne’s Wala Patala and two other films Bora Diya Pokuna and Nahi Werena Werani, which have been awaiting release for past several years. He mentioned that Machang was a turning point in his personal life as well as his acting career. “I used to be double the body size I am now, I had no control over eating. I didn’t give body image much importance,” he recalled how he almost missed the role in Machang. “They told me that although I am suitable for the role, they can’t give it to me since my body image doesn’t match the character. They challenged me to lose weight that if I did they would give me the role.” Not only did Dharmapriya accept the challenge and succeeded, he wound up creating one of the most celebrated roles in the recent film history. Playing his maiden major role in this internationally acclaimed movie, Dharmapriya received the opportunity to travel to many countries. He also pointed out that physical and mental well-being is essential to becoming a successful actor. “This is rare in the Sri Lankan setting,” he said.

He further said that the experiences he acquired travelling across the world made him question the situation of contemporary Sri Lankan cinema. “I observed that in many other countries acting is a respected as well as a well paid profession,” he pointed out that most Sri Lankan actors are engaged in the field part-time as artistes while doing a fulltime job in a completely different field. “I’ve heard that there was a time in Sri Lanka when such value was attached to the profession. Too bad I never got a chance to witness it,” he lamented.

Speaking further about theater productions, Dharmapriya said that there has always been a stable audience for stage plays unlike cinema and teledrama. “Audience for stage plays has been considerably stable during both good and bad times. People came to watch plays even during the period of the armed conflict. There were fluctuations, but the dramatists were able to maintain the quality of the plays.” He said that the dramatists have attempted to give the maximum to the field using the limited resources they have. “Unfortunately, facilities in theaters have deteriorated. None of the responsible parties have looked into this.  This is a very sad situation,” he emphasized.

Walking on the shadows of Hattottuwagama

Deepani Silva, who is committed to promoting street dramas, talks about the interesting times, experiences and lessons learnt while working with a legendary father figure in the field of acting  

(Pics by Ravindra Dharmathilake)

Award winning actress Deepani Silva celebrates four decades in her acting career in March 2015.

The late Gamini Hattottuwagama, through street dramas in Sri Lanka, offered citizens an amazing theatrical experience.  This roadside experience was offered free to the public. Yet, several decades later, there was a period where street dramas were not shown. Deepani Silva, one of the first stage drama students of Hattottuwagama, with the support of several other former members of Hattottuwagama’s drama team established Gamini Hattottuwagama Foundation to develop this theatrical component, identifying this downfall.

Deepani said that her voyage in the drama field began unexpectedly as she joined Ranga Shilpa Shalika looking for a way to spend time after her final school examinations in 1975 with her cousin sisters. Ranga Shilpa Shalika was the first institute to introduce a program to teach drama and theater studies.  Late veteran Gamini Hattottuwagama was one of the instructors at the institution and he was trying to build up a street drama group by the time Deepani joined the class.

 “I didn’t know anything about street drama. Yet Hattottuwagama Sir invited me to join in with them as he observed that I have acting skills which can be useful in street drama,” she recalled.  She said that she didn’t have an expectation to become an actress, but was curious to learn how things happened behind the curtains. She said that she developed an interest because of the stage dramas she watched during her school days at Kalutara Balika Vidyalaya and Colombo Buddhist Ladies’ College.

After joining Hattottuwagama’s street drama team she received the opportunity to take part in two special role-plays produced by Hattottuwagama and H. Karunarathna for Christmas. “I was a part of these two dramas, Akeekaru Puthraya and Jesu Jerusalamata Pamineema. Therefore my acting career started on an altar,” she reminisced. She also recalled how she traveled across the country with this drama group. “I was amazed by this new experience and was surprised how the team was enthusiastic about the performances although it didn’t benefit them financially. Luckily I received the blessings from my family,” she said recalling how the family shared her interest and encouraged her to follow her heart once they got to know how exciting street drama was. 

Deepani’s father, J Peter Silva was a teacher as well as trade union leader in Kalutara, Katukurunda.  She grew up in an environment where they openly discussed political and social issues. “I believe that was the reason why I wasn’t too scared to engage in street drama. I was familiar with the subjects due to the experiences I received at home mingling with the society,” she said.  She also said that politics and art always went hand in hand and even though an artiste doesn’t get on to a political stage she or he will always be speaking politics. “To engage in party politics or not is a personal choice. It depends on the person. However, the artiste should always take the general public’s side, always speaking against the unjust happening to them, if there is any,” she stressed.

After Hattottuwagama passed away, the need for a leadership reemerged in the street drama field.  “We identified this need and a few from the first group got together again to create a program for the younger generation. She also mentioned how Hattottuwagama Sir taught them the techniques in a practical manner while engaged in a drama. As a tribute to him they established the Gamini Hattottuwagama Foundation to support the Sri Lankan Street Drama.  

 “Street drama is open to anyone in the society. Performances will be on the road, so anyone-from a person who drives a luxurious car to a beggar on the road- can come and see,” she explained. Street theatre as she said goes to its audience rather than the other way round. Its different performances depend on time and place; it can range from public theatre through a town or village to a demonstration at a factory or an organization, linked up with a social or political campaign. 

She iterated that a street drama artiste should be highly skilled. “Everyone at the audience should hear what he or she is saying despite the disturbances in the environment. Performance should be directed to everyone around the circle.  None of the spectators should be missed,” she said.  “It’s a difficult task as the spectator can see every step from getting ready- wearing costumes to the performance,” she added. She further said that the street dramatist should also be knowledgeable about the current situation of the society apart from the street drama and acting skills that they have to engage with the spectators and should be ready accept or respond to the feedback.

She said that economical benefits are secondary in street dramas and that the group is more focused on sending out a message. “Most of the time, a street drama is organized from personnel funds of the dramatist.  If the organizers are ready to pay for our transport, that will be welcomed and appreciated. Even if not, we won’t fuss,” she said.  She also said that whatever money they raise through the hat collection at the end of the performance satisfies them. They use the money for their accommodation and improvements of their costumes and decorations.  “A hat collection is a tradition carried out in street drama, not that we receive a lot of money through this,” she reflected.

 She argued that street drama has the potential to convey political messages to the society stronger than other form of art. “That should also be the responsibility of the artiste engaged in street drama. Problems and issues concerning the society can be easily convinced to the society through this. Since the drama goes to the people on the road, the messengers don’t have to wait until the audience comes to them to convey the message,” she added.

Deepani also joined stage drama, television and the silver screen later in her career. She has contributed in over 25 stage dramas including Weddikkarayo. She first joined the Television through Shrimathi Liyanage’s Children’s drama. Her debut episodic drama was Lucian Bulathsinhala’s Thara Devi. The dumb woman’s character she played in Thara Devi was much loved an appreciated. This role made her a star in the teledrama field. She said that she feels proud that she has been able to maintain her popularity continuously until today. “I have never played the lead role of a teledrama, yet most of the characters I played were loved by the teledrama fans,” she said.

She entered the silver screen with the role in Hewawasam’s Meeharaka in 1980s. She got nominated for the Best Actress Award for the character she played in Anura Chndrandrasiri’s  Thunweni Aha.

Today she mostly contributes to teledramas apart from her involvement in Street theater. She also spoke about the teledrama industry in the country. She lamented that the teledrama industry has become a factory which caters to the demand of the buyers. “Producers are more interested in finishing more episodes in a day rather than producing a drama high in aesthetic qualities,” she lamented.

She identified few disadvantages an artiste faces today. “In Sri Lanka acting is not a recognized profession. You can’t apply for a bank loan being an artiste. You won’t receive a pension when you are old. Most of all, acting is not a secure job. You’ll get roles until you have the demand.  If you lose it you lose your financial stability,” she pointed out.

She also emphasized the need for a valid institute to teach drama and theater studies. “There should be a place where students can observe skills of veterans and learn and a place where they get a valid recognition,” she said. “Acting is no easy job if done properly. It requires training and constant practice as well as confidence. This is why people who started the career as stage dramatists tend to remain in the field for a longer time than others who are not,” she said.