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YOUNG
ARTIST FOUNDATION PRESIDENT SAYS SRI LANKA’S CHILD STAR SARALA
WAS EASY TO BE NAMED THE WORLD’S BEST
By Walter Jayawardhana
Speaking to this correspondent after presenting the Best Child Actor
award to Sri Lanka’s child star Sarala (11), Maureen Dragone ,
the President of Hollywood’s Young Artist Foundation said her organization
was thrilled by Sarala’s outstanding performance in the film and
she could be easily named world’s best.
“It was outstanding for a child to show her emotions in such talented
fashion by facial expressions, turning of the eyes, or shaking the head
without speaking a word- the perfect thing to do in cinematic art,”
Dragone said speaking highly of the Sri Lankan child artist’s award
winning performance in Canadian Indian writer Director Deepa Mehatha’s
Water.
At the cultural show held in conjunction with the ‘Focus Sri Lanka’
Exhibition in Los Angeles the child actress also received another award
presented to the Director on behalf of Mehtha, who was away and busy
working on another film project.
She said Water was so educative and it teaches of children of another
age , somewhere else in the world. She said the film taught that especially
children could speak the truth unconcerned about the consequences and
they could give high hopes for the human spirit even in hopeless situations.
They could move against injustice as they are not prejudiced as Chuiya
did in the film. It should be shown to every child in the United State,
she insisted.
Commenting on the two dances the child actress performed at the Focus
Sri Lanka show, Dragone said she was fascinated by her other talents
and the dances she performed were very different from American dances.
Dragone said hers were of a more spiritual depth in contrast to the
US dances since her dances did not draw the attention of the viewers
to the legs but to her bodily movements, and movements of the head and
arms. “American dances mostly draw attention to the legs to arouse
sex,” she said. She also said she was also fascinated by the oriental
dances of the Channa Upuli dance ensemble and their colorful costumes,
which was an unprecedented experience for her.
She said Mehtha’s Water was definitely a work of art of the highest
caliber and Hollywood would have given it more recognition. She said,
she was very confident that Sarala will be better known internationally
in the future due to her talents.
After the show Sarala and her two parents, father H. Sarath and mother,
Bhavani Kariyawasam sat down for an interview with this correspondent.
The following were the questions asked and answers given by the three:
Question: We know the making of the Water in Sri Lanka happened
after the Hindu fundamentalists set fire to the sets of the film at
Varanasi in India. Deepa Mehtha’s journey to Sri Lanka to restart
the film at a set erected on the banks of Bolgoda Lake therefore was
somewhat accidental. So, finding out you as a child actress also could
be called somewhat accidental. Can you please tell me how that happened?
Sarala: Luckily for me, Chandran Rutnam uncle and Asoka Silva
uncle at Film locations Company had some clips of me taken from Small
TV programs in which I acted, like Punchi Panchi. I was also in the
media unit of my school and some of my dancing and oratorical abilities
were known. Aunty Deepa Mehtha first came to our school and came home
with the principal of the school to see whether I am good for the film.
Question: So, what you say is you have done some acting before
and Deepa Mehtha wanted to test you whether you could do the character
of Chuiya in the film?
Sarala: Yes . She wanted to test me.
Question: So, what kind of test she gave you?
Sarala: She wanted me to cry pretending that my mother was leaving
and I cried?
Question: So, what happened ?
Sarala: I was immediately hired. I passed the test.
Question: So your mother gave you permission to act in the film?
Sarala: No. When Deepa aunty told her that it was a character
of a child widow and I will have to shave my head my mother was horrified
and said she was very sorry and I could not take part in the film.
Question: So, how did you finally convince her.
Sarala: I started pleading with her and said the hair will grow
back but that alone did not convince her.
Question: Bhavani, how did you finally change your mind to let
her act in the film?
Bhavani: The principal of her school, Sanghamitta College , Galle
Mrs. Dharmalatha Dharmawardena told me that that Water is once in a
lifetime opportunity for a talented girl like Sarala and if she missed
it she might not get a similar opportunity ever. If that happened, she
said, the little girl might even blame me when she grows up. So, I called
my husband who was working in Saudi Arabia and talked to him. Finally
Sarala was able to convince the father too. Then I agreed.
Question: We hear that you were also worried about her education
breaking up. Weren’t you worried about that?
Bhavani: Yes. But Deepa Mehtha said she would give some lessons
by a private tutor during the breaks of the filming.
Question: Did you study on the set?
Answer: Yes . I not only studied -I sat for the Fifth grade scholarship
examination and passed . Then I was in the fourth grade.
Question: Now that you have passed the scholarship exam would
you like to go and attend a bigger school in Colombo.
Sarala: No. Sanghamitta College in Galle is the best school in
the world. My Principal and teachers love me very much. I have many
friends and they like me too. When I did well in the film all of them
encouraged me to continue the good work. I will never leave my school.
Question: What we have heard is now Sarala’s mother likes
to watch the movie but still she walks out when one scene comes up.
I s that true?
Bhavani: Yes. I still cannot see my girl’s head being shaven.
Question: An American critic of the film has said thus on Sarala:
“ Sarala is the best part of Water. She’s cute, energetic,
and perfect choice for the role. In real life Sarala cannot speak a
word of Hindi. Her work in Water is the complete memorization of lines
and their phonetic regurgitation. This makes her performance even more
profound. What an amazing actress!” Aren’t you glad that your
earlier decision of not allowing her to act in the film was changed?
Bhavani: Yes I am glad. When I saw the script and the dialogues
I never thought she could live up to the expectations. Deepa gave her
one full month to by-heart the dialogues. But after one week Sarala
said she was ready. I was amazed. After two weeks the work started instead
of one month.
Question: Sarala , how did you do that?
Sarala: First of all- the Hindi dialogues were written in Sinhala
script and that made it easy to memorize. The two languages are so similar.
During breaks John (Abrahams) uncle and Liza (Ray) aunty taught me Hindi.
When you know the meaning it became easy to memorize. I taught them
Sinhalese. And when I went to Toronto Film festival Liza aunty asked
me ‘Aren’t you clad in a white saree’ in Sinhala with
a Canadian accent. She is Canadian.
Question: What is the scene you enjoyed most in the film?
Sarala: I enjoyed the scene when I was dancing on the back of
the fat matron.
Question: Is it true that Sarala has got another invitation
to act in another film?
Sarath: Nothing could be said about it since there is no final
decision yet. But she will go for any acting if her education is not
disturbed. And it should be somebody like Deepa Mehtha who would look
after our girl with love and protect her.
Question: Sarala’s mother is very concerned about bringing
up her daughter with high morals and Sri Lankan culture. What have you
told her to do in the face of the immense publicity she is getting now?
Bhavani: The more publicity she gets she will have to be more
humble. I am always insisting on that. There is a saying in Sinhala
that when a tree gets more fruits the branches bend down. She will have
to be like that. She will have to think that she is a Sinhala lady and
behave accordingly. That’s what I always tell her.
Question: Sarala , what do you want to become in life?
Sarala: I want to become an actress. Sometimes, I also want to
become a doctor.
Question : I wish you could become an acting doctor. What are
you expecting out of your daughter?
Bhavani: Fame could fade away one day. But education cannot be
faded away. That’s what our culture has taught us. So, first of
all I want her to be educated very well. I am confident she will go
in the correct way. Even when she was smaller, when she came back perspiring,
having taken part in dance practice for school contests, she sat down,
completed her studies even when teachers said she could do it later.
I am very confident this girl will go in the correct way. That’s
the great consolation I have. I think acting is a gift she got from
earlier lives in her samsara. I no longer worry about it. She will do
anything for acting. If she has to shave her head once again I am sure
she will do it. She is not worried. She firmly believes the hair will
grow back. But like her name Sarala (simple) I want her to be simple.
Question: Do you have to say anything else?
Sarala: Yes, I want to thank all my teachers at
Galle, my parents, sister and brother for loving me so much, my friends
and relatives who kept on giving me courage, Aunty Deepa Mehtha for
looking after me like my own mother during the shooting, Hollywood’s
Young Artist Foundation for giving me the award, the Sri Lankan Consul
General Jaliya Wickramasuriya for arranging my trip here and Sri Lankan
air line for flying us free here.
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