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.

Rodney Warnakula - Caught in a wave called comedy

 “There are dramatists who preserve their individual work. Yet, what we want is a collective system where all theater work will be preserved for the use of next generations,” Rodney Warnakula, one of the most celebrated Sinahala artistes who conquered the stage, television as well as the silver screen as an actor, producer and also as a singer said during an interview with The Nation. Warnakula made these comments when talking about the resolutions that should be brought for the betterment of the Sri Lankan arts field this year (2015). He pointed out that there is no fine method to preserve the stage dramas or stage drama songs in the country. According to him, even now it’s too late for some of the theater components to be preserved. “We at least get to see reproductions of stage plays. But what about the Teetar, Naadagam and Kolam?” he queried. “Those components too should be preserved so that it provides an example of how rich our old traditional art is,” he emphasized.

Warnakula is from Bopitiya, Ja-Ela. Receiving the primary education from Bopitiya Roman Catholic Boy’s School he entered Pamunugma Maha Vidyalaya for higher studies. His interest, while in school, was the stage because he was a much loved singer and skilled actor.   

In 1980, young Rodney received an opportunity to join the Tower Hall Theater Program. There he said that he received the greatest opportunity of meeting theater legends Anula Bulathsinhala and Lucien Bulathsinhala. “Meeting them was a turning point in my life. They invited me to act in Tharawo Igilethi in 1981. That was the first time I set my foot on the popular stage,” he recalled. Since then he has been working in the field for 33 years and has made contributions to more than 45 theater productions. These include Nari Bena, Vanisiye Welenda, Ananda Jawanika, Madura Jawanika, Guru Tharuwa, Mee Pura Wasiyo, Saranga Nawen Awith and Padada Asapuwa. Among these Saranga Nawen Awith was Warnakula’s debut stage play production.

He also spoke about his connections with the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. “I was a singer before I was an actor. Starting from school, I featured in many musical programs including amateur singer’s programs at SLBC,” he recalled. He was selected for both SLBC’s ‘Sarala Gee’ program and as a dubbing artiste. He reminisced the times he featured in the radio program Thaksalawa, mentioning how he was invited to make contributions in dubbed television programs.  He specifically mentioned that he believes that it was a blessing to work under the guidance of Athula Ransirilal in Inguru Paan Malliya,Kolikuttu Sahodarayo and Dangara waliga lapa wanara.

Warnakula’s stage roles are remembered for his remarkable voice. He is an icon in the Sri Lankan musical theater.    ‘Kumatada Sobaniye Kandulu Salanne…’ in Nari Bena,  ‘Yasa isuru pirunu thana, Siri dew du sitina thanaa ’ in Rathu Hattakari ‘Kadeta palayan Chun Chan…’ in Saranga Nawen Awith, ‘Hanika Warew Kollene..’ in Bera Handa and  ‘Sobawa de…’ in Tharawo igilethi with U Ariyawimal are some of the popular stage plays where one can hear his songs.  

He considers the opportunity he received to play the fox’s character in late veteran Dayananda Gunawardana’s Nari Bena as the greatest fortune in his career. He believes that destiny also played a role in him being selected for the character. He joined the Nari Bena crew in 1993, ten years after the play was first staged. Since then for 21 continuous years, he has played the role of the fox.

Few years into his stage career, Warnakula received the opportunity to enter the electronic media (television) and the silver screen. His first studio drama was Sutin and Martin. Gradually he received invitations to act in tele-dramas.  Among his most celebrated characters are the roles he played in Bodima, Nonawaruni Mahathwaruni, Ethuma, Sodona and Sayawana Patumaga. His character in Nana Kamaraya- a tele-drama mostly popularized through DVDs- is rated among the successful roles he played.

The debut film role he played was the character in Bahuboothayo (a Sinhala comedy). He mentioned that filming the second part of Bahuboothayo has now been completed – good news for fans who enjoyed the first part.  Sikuru Hathe is another in a series of popular films to which he has contributed with acting roles.

Although Warnakula plays many roles on the stage, he seems to be framed into similar type of characters when it comes to television and the film industry. Warnakula is one of the very few comedians with the ability to make people laugh without putting much effort. Yet this didn’t make it necessary to frame him to a set character, a funny servant or an office assistant. He acknowledged that he feels his talents are limited by set boundaries on television and the silver screen. “I keep on receiving similar roles in acting. When a character is successfully played and loved by the audience, producers tend to recreate similar roles. This stereotype characters bore the actors as well as the audience. “I have turned down many invitations to play such characters,” he stressed.

Warnakula along with his co-artiste Priyantha Seneviratne received the opportunity to continue the radio comedy Vinoda Samaya from its original presenters Annesley Dias, Berty Goonathilake and Samuel Rodrigo after several productions. “After these three superstars, Mr. Amarasoma Samarakkodi continued the program for a period. Eventually we also received an opportunity to perform,” he said. “Unfortunately, the SLBC didn’t want to continue with the program. Eventually we had to give up,” he said in a sad tone.

Commenting further on the contemporary comedy programs he said that it is essential that the comedy programs come along with visuals today because the audience demands visuals. “Dialogues solely can’t make people laugh today,” he noted. “Our audience relies too much on visuals today. They have been made to depend on visuals,” he said adding that this implies the fact that the creativity of the audience has declined. “Mindset of the people is shaped according to the speed rhythm media makes people follow. Sometimes it is confusing what people appreciate as art today.”  

He further said that the reason behind the lack of fine comedy programs could be the complexity of the today’s society. “People are suppressed by different problems. They are too stressed to think. Therefore sometimes people don’t understand satire,” he said. “It’s sad when the part including satire has to be pointed out for the audience,” he lamented. Warnakula further stressed that the lack of good satirical scripts is proof for the lack of well read artistes.

Warnakula launched his first music album ‘Ha ha lande’; a collection of stage drama songs in 2000. In 2011, he launched his second album ‘Sanda Eliya Wage’. His other songs don’t seem have grabbed attention of the radio program producers although his drama songs are played on radio channels from time to time. Warnakula said that he is not concerned about these songs not been played on radio channels that his intentions were not to sell his songs. However, speaking of his New Year resolutions he said that now it is time that he start another theater production, after Saranga Nawen Awith.