Giving conscience a sensitive touch

A chat with tele-drama director Roshan Ahangama

  

There is a divorce lawyer who has many years of practice in helping married people separate from each other and sometimes helps them reunite. He always succeeds in getting what his clients desire. This is what he has been doing half of his life. This is what he knows best. But when it comes to his divorce, he fails. Being one of the best divorce lawyers in the country, why couldn’t he achieve what he wanted?

There is a girl who resides by the banks of the Kelani River who cleans rich people’s cloths. She cleans fancy cloths every day, dreaming of her wedding day. Yet it doesn’t seem like her dreams will come true any time soon. What halts her marriage? Is it her profession? Is it because she isn’t rich?

These are stories from our society. Yet, do all these stories get registered in the mind of an observer? “What made the lawyer fail? Why can’t this girl get married? Do we understand the real issue behind all this? Does everyone have a conscience?,” Roshan Ahangama talking about his latest tele-direction Harda Shakshiya queried. “Sometimes it’s like some people do not have a conscience or they have simply forgotten their conscience. Concept of this single episode tele-drama was put together to question this, to see whether this buried conscience can be brought back to the surface,” Roshan said.

Roshan who plays several roles in the media field is from Ahangama, Galle. As a child he attended several schools and acquired his degree in sociology from Peradeniya University. He reminisced how he has been interested in cinema and arts since he his schooldays. University education on social issues combined with the passion towards cinema encouraged him to study further about film creations. He said that he looked out for opportunities to learn about cinema whenever he could.  

Roshan is not a stranger to the Rivira family. He has been playing a prominent role in the Rivira Sports Desk for a long period. He said that his motive behind becoming a sports journalist was also linked to his passion towards tele creations. He is determined to make a movie based on his experiences in the sports field and he said that he is inspired to seek more and more knowledge in the field every day, getting closer to achieving his goal.

In 2010, his short film ‘Rescue’ was appreciated as the best short film at the Alternative Short Film Festival. Rescue was appreciated at several international film festivals.  His 2012 single episode teledrama Niramisa was also highly admired. Harda Shakshiya is his first lengthy teledrama series.

Speaking further about his tele-creation in the making, he said this series was started off as a sociological experiment to seek a way to address sensitive human issues. He said that the journey in finding heart-touching stories was quite exciting that they met people from many walks of life.

This tele series speaks of 50 different stories and each story will be telecast in two episodes. “50 episodes are already completed and ready to be telecast,” Roshan said. He added, “Finding locations for shooting was also done carefully. We always tried to get to the original locations of where the stories generated.” He also mentioned that most of these stories are real. “We tried our best to secure its originality, so that we can bring out the real emotions,” he explained.

Scripts for these stories were written by Roshan along with Thushari Abeysekara, Wimal Katapearachchi, Ayeshika Rajasooriya, Upali Bandara Weeraserkara, Gamunu Wickramasuriya and Dhammika Deeptha. “The scripts will bring out stories from our society, what we overlooked,” he said. “These stories could have easily been showcased as documentary programs. But, I believe our effort is more effective that it secures the sensitivity of the stories,” he opined.

He further said that this tele-creation will be a novel experience for the teledrama audience in Sri Lanka. “It will be an eye-opening experience after years and years of mega and foreign teledramas,” he iterated. 

The tele series is produced by the Harda Shakshiya Art Circle, Dharaka Abeywardana and Indrawansha Gunawardena. Music direction for the tele series is by Gayathri Kemadasa, daughter of maestro Premasiri Kemadasa. According to Roshan, music direction for the tele series is also an experiment in the teledrama field that the theme song of the teledrama will be presented in the form of opera. “Each episode will commence with a short opera of two and a half minutes. Gayathri put immense effort to make it an extraordinary experience,” he said.

He fondly remembered his colleague, late The Nation photojournalist Rukshan Abeywansha who was a member of the Harda Shakshiya group at the beginning.  “We wanted to use his skills in still photography to reach new dimensions in shooting the stories. Unfortunately, he could only contribute to four stories,” he expressed his grief.  Later, Chathuranga Wickramasinghe joined the group in managing camera and lights.    

“Harda Shakshiya will be a new experience going beyond the usual teledrama trends. Maybe that’s the reason for the delay in accepting the series to telecast. Maybe the themes discussed are too strong for the media institutions,” in conclusion he said that he is yet to receive a telecast schedule for the drama series. 

Capturing the hearts of youth with reel

Veteran teledrama director Ananda Abeynayake believes children are reluctant to listen to Dharma while being seated in one position for an hour, but they can be influenced to watch a teledrama on religion

Sansare Piyasatahan, popular Poya Day single episode Buddhist teledrama series directed by veteran teledrama director Ananda Abeynayaka celebrates 21 years

In an era where teledrama directors constantly get blamed for their commercialized tele-productions that do not fulfill the demands of the viewers and do not have expected aesthetic value and entertainment, only a few directors and producers get praised for their commitment in trying to maintain standards. They are the ones who try to protect the industry from downfall. One such personality is veteran teledrama director Ananda Abeynayake who believes that true satisfaction of teledrama or film directing comes from seeing the production contribute to the betterment of society.

Ananda is an old boy of Ananda College, Colombo 10. He reminisced that his interests in arts and creative writing began during childhood, when he started compiling his own children’s magazine as a hobby. “The only person who read my magazine was my mother. I sold my only magazine copy to her for 50 cents,” he said adding how he used his mother’s sewing machine to bind the magazine when the number of pages increased. Still, she was the only buyer of his small magazine.

However, his mother identified that he was a talented child. He was also interested in arts. Although there were no artistes in his family, his mother took him to the temple close to his house where veteran artist Jayasiri Semage and Thalangama Jayasinghe conducted an art class. “That’s how the foundation was laid. And I built my career on this,” he reminisced.

Later he got the opportunity to work with veteran dramatist Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka on ‘Eka Adipathi’ drama team. The First film he joined was Pembara Madu directed by Sugathapala Senarath Yapa released in 1977. “Not many know this fact about me, but I joined this film as a fight choreographer. I stunt doubled for Tony Ranasinghe in the movie,” he recalled. “As a child, I was keen on learning martial arts although I’m all out of practice now,” the veteran teledrama director recollected his introduction to the cinema. Abeynayake had been a talented martial artist who represented the first ever World Open Karate Tournament in Japan in 1975.

Abeynayake’s debut film production was Sagarayak Meda. Released in 1981, the film was directed by late Gamini Fonseka. Gamini also played the main role in the movie. “Experiences I gained working with Gamini was immense. I believe these experiences guided me to become the person I am today,” he said. Sagarayak Meda was the fourth Sinhala color film. “I was just 27 years old and I had to face many hurdles. But this also encouraged me to direct films,” he said explaining how he became a film director and then a tele drama director. His teledramas won many awards at prestigious awards ceremonies including State Drama Festival, Sumathi Tele Awards and Raigam Tele Awards.

In 1999 his Poya tele-drama; Kohomba Yakku won the Jury’s special award at the Japan Prize International Contest for Educational Media in Tokyo. The ceremony was organized by NHK. In 2008, his tele-drama There is a way won the best tele-drama award at the same ceremony. His most popular tele drama series Sansarae Piyasatahan has won over 20 national and international awards during the past two decades.

He spoke about Sansarae Piyasatahan, the pioneering Poya day single episode TV series in Sri Lanka which celebrates its 21^st anniversary this year. “I was interested in teledramas since my school days. The influence of the Buddhism, books I read as well as the Buddhist environment of my school, Ananda College nurtured a yearning to start a Buddhist teledrama series,” he said. “Meeting Somaweera Senanayaka and Raja Abeynayaka was another reason to initiate such a series. Senanayaka’s proficiency in language and religion made the single episode tele drama series a success,” he iterated. The first drama of Sansarae Piyasatahan series was telecast on a full moon Poya day in 1993. The debut drama was scripted by Somaweera Senanayaka and Jayalath Manoratne and Chandani Senveritane played the main roles. Since then, a new episode of Sansarae Piyasatahan is telecast on each Poya night at 7.30 pm.

Commenting on single episode dramas Abeynayake said that it is a fascinating thing to know the beginning and the end of a story within a day. “I knew that a single episode drama is capable of making a huge difference. I was inspired to do this because of fulfilling memories I had of reading Siththara strip cartoon newspaper and I used to enjoy Anura Shrinath’s single episode cartoon strip published in it,” he said.  

He also said that it was a challenge to continue the drama series since he was eager on maintaining the quality, creativity as well as the power of the message conveyed. “End result is always satisfying. I always receive positive feedback once an episode is telecasted,” he reiterated. He mentioned few incidents where people personally contacted him to reserve DVD copies to show their employee, friends or students who missed watching it. “I remember a depot manager called me once to get a copy of a drama episode which spoke about a child who lost his father due to a road accident by a drunken diver. The depot manager wanted to show in the bus drivers’ workshop, that he believed they would never drink and drive if they saw the episode,” he recalled.

He also mentioned about the scripts he chooses for the drama series. “We have never created a drama out of a Jathaka Story although it’s all Buddhist themes. Main criteria of choosing a script is that it include a striking moral message,” he explained. “Many veteran script writers as well as amateurs provide stories. In fact anyone can send a script or a story to me.  I’ll be more than happy to receive a fine script,” he added.

Abeynayake noted that his main goal of this tele series is to attract the young audience to watch the drama. “They are quite reluctant to listen to Dharma seated in one position for an hour. But it is easier for them to watch a teledrama,” he opined. “Young generation is quite distracted from the television today. But, I know, when they see a good production they stick with it,” he said.

Using three decades of experience in the field he said that he too had noticed the decline in the teledrama field over the years. “Many try to cater to the commercialized demands, but not to the nourishment of the human mind. However, it is the responsibility of any film or teledrama producer to help the society understand what is right and wrong while providing entertainment,” he emphasized. He identified limited budgets, lack of fine actors and actresses as well as lack of commitment to produce fine dramas as the main reasons for the fall of the teledrama industry. He also mentioned that he is thankful to Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation for allowing the Poya Night 7.30 time belt maintaining the standards.

 
Abeynayaka has introduced lot of new faces to the audience through his teledramas. He said that he always tries to select the best person for a teledrama character since he believes that not using the most suitable person would lessen the aesthetic quality of the drama. He further explained that today selecting fine actors for teledramas has also become a challenge. “Earlier the actors and actresses entered the teledrama field with academic experiences and a plenty of experiences on the stage. It was easy to work with them. Today, such people are rare and it is not helping the industry,” he expressed his grief. “However, we do not have any recognized education institution to study about teledrama deeply. Few places including state universities have a few short courses and on and off subjects. But they don’t seem to help much,” he pointed out.

Abeynayake reiterated that low quality teledramas distract the audience from the television. “There is an increase in the crowds who come to see films and stage plays. A reason behind this could be the frustration the audience has towards the teledramas,” he stressed. He also said that it is not impossible to restore the reputation of the Sinhala teledramas. “There was a time when the stage plays also fell from its grace. They identified the mistakes and they are in the process of regaining their power. Teledrama too can do this,” he further said. 

 

Pic by Ravindra Dharmathilake