Rohan Abeygunawardena

•             Storyline

September 1966 was significant for Sinhala cinema. It featured the story of a young man who loved women, wine, and music. His name was Bonnie Mahattaya.” He was the only child of an aristocratic landowning family from Welhene, a beautiful, remote village. He lost his parents at a very young age and was cared for by a faithful servant. A relative helped him get an education by sending him to a school in Colombo, where children from elite society studied.

The character of the young man reflected the phrase “Walk with kings and keep the common touch.” Young Bonnie had friends from the village who loved art and music. They all looked up to him as their leader. Most evenings, he wandered around the village with his friends and returned to his mansion for a drink and a music session. At home, a village girl staying with him attended to all his needs.

Occasionally, he invited his elite society friends over for dinner or lunch.

Having no motherly or sisterly love as a child, he was searching for love. He never found it but learned what real love was when an attractive young girl refused him and continued her love affair with a handsome young man from the village. He tried everything to break up the affair but failed.

He was trying to grab a flower that belong to someone else. In other words it was a forbidden love that Bonnie was after.

By the time he understood what real love was, he was a sick man. He developed a weak liver due to cirrhosis from heavy drinking. Despite this, he respected the two lovers and helped them.

The storyline described above was from the movie Parasathu Mal.

•             How it was started?

Chitra Balasooriya, a wealthy businessman who owned Chitra Photo Studio in Gampaha town, had a circle of friends like Lionel Algama, Amaradeva, Dayananda Gunawardena, and Mahagama Sekera. All of them were radical thinkers, artists, and aesthetes. They used to meet occasionally, and their conversations focused on literature, movies, and music, both Sinhala and international. They suggested that Chitra should consider producing Sinhala movies. Although he had no idea where to start, he agreed to try.

His friend Dharmadasa Kuruppu said the first step was to get a good script. They approached P.K.D. Seneviratne (PKDS), a well-known Sinhala poet and talented radio play writer who had already written scripts for Sinhala movies like Kurulu Bedda and Sikuru Tharuwa. PKDS told them he was already working on a script that he could finish in two weeks.

When Chitra returned, he handed over the script without any preconditions. The title of the script was Pemwathunge Lokaya,” or Lovers World” in English. Chitra was impressed by the storyline and showed it to his friends. However, a few of them thought that the title was not suitable for a Sinhala movie. At this stage, Mahagama Sekera suggested the title Parasathu Mal,” since the story was about forbidden love. They, including PKDS, agreed on that name.

Chitra decided to make a blockbuster movie and chose the best director. By then, Lester James Peries had already earned a reputation as one of the top directors in Sinhala cinema. He met Lester and offered him the role of director for Parasathumal.”

By that time, Lester had directed an award-winning film, Gamperaliya,” produced by successful business magnate Anton Wickramasinghe. They had already begun producing the movie Delovak Atara.” Anton advised Lester, Lester, don’t take this on. We’ve done two films now, and people will think we’re broke. That’s bad for the company (ref: Lester by Lester).”

•             Selection of a Director

After reviewing the storyline, Lester recommended that they offer the directing job to young Gamini Fonseka.

Gamini entered the film industry as a Second Assistant Director on the famous international movie “Bridge on the River Kwai,” directed by David Lean in the mid-fifties. Lester chose him as his Second Assistant Director for his first Sinhala movie, Rekawa.” It was the revolutionary movie that changed the Sinhala film industry, which was then dominated by a South Indian style of girl, boy, fights, and songs.

Gamini also gained acting experience in Daiwayogaya,” Lester’s Rekawa,” and Sandeshaya.” He became a popular actor after starring in Sandeshaya.

“Lester promised all the assistance towards my production and introduced me to Gamini Fonseka. I had never met him before but had heard he was an ‘Adambarakaraya’ (a proud person).” That did not deter me, as I was a bigger Adambarakaraya,” Balasuriya said (Chandani Kirinde’s interview of Chitra published in Sunday Times on 5th November 2017).

The 28-year-old handsome young man, Gamini Fonseka, took on the challenge of directing his first movie. He also accepted acting in the film by taking on the main role, Bonnie Mahathaya,” himself.

•             Selection of the Actors

Punya Heendeniya (Kamala) was cast to play the challenging role of a typical village girl from that era, where her lover was manipulated by the wealthy playboy Bonnie into ending her love affair with a handsome young man. Tony Ranasinghe was chosen as Kamala’s lover, Sirisena while D.R. Nanayakkara was assigned the role of the loyal family servant, Amaris. Anula Karunathilake was cast as Nona,’ a girl from a poor family looking for a smart young man like Srisena as her husband. Sirimathy Rasadari was cast as Maggie, who lives in Bonnie’s mansion and takes care of Bonnie’s interests.

Other actors were Dharmadasa Kuruppu (as Sedaris), S.A. Jamis (as Kamala’s father), Shanthi Lekha (as Kamala’s mother), Wijeratne Warakagoda (as Tabla player), Shelton Perera (as Harmonium player), Joe Abeywickrama (as Ariyawansa), and Chitra Wakista (as Sirisena’s mother) playing other main roles. Some of the minor roles by Nelson Karunagama, Denawaka Hamine, Francis Perera, Mapa Gunarathna, Daya Wickramaarachchi, D.A.Balasuriya,   Quintus Rodrigo, Nimal Gammudali, and Champa Liyanege.

•             Film Location

Chitra’s next problem was to get a proper location for the movie. From his young days, he was fascinated by the mansion located at Bendiyamulla in Gampaha. The mansion (a legendary Walauwa) was Agra” built by D.D.Karunaratne, one of the richest men in Gampaha, won the 1947 election contesting through the United National Party (UNP). He was made a Senator by First Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake.

By this time, the mansion was owned by his eldest daughter, Chandra Charlotte, who was married to the Director General of the Irrigation Department. When Chitra requested her permission to use her mansion as a film location, she refused.

At this stage, PKDS, who was a close acquaintance of the then Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake and was working as his public relations officer, came forward to help Chitra. However, at the intervention of the Prime Minister, the owner agreed with certain conditions. One condition was not to allow anyone to enter the house without first washing their feet.

•             Selection of Technical Team and Shooting

Chitra and Gamini then selected the technical team. Sumitta Amarasinghe was selected as the Cinematographer and Titus Thotawatte as the Film Editor. Chitra’s friends Lionel Algama and Mahagama Sekera was given the task of Composing Music and Lyricist of the songs respectively. The play back singers were W. D. Amaradeva and Sujatha Attanayake.  The Art Director was Dharmasena Hemapala.

When the shooting of the film commenced man behind the camera Sumitta Amarasinghe helped and directed Gamini who acted as Bonnie Mahattaya or the main character, who had to perform with many emotional and facial expressions to convey the character’s inner thoughts and feelings to the audience.

Gamini with his experience working with directors like David Lean and Lester, directed almost all the other characters to perform well in front of the camera.

•             Lester’s Assistance

As agreed with Chitra and Gamini, Lester visited the location several times and helped them with the direction of few scenes.

A scene where the drunken Bonnie Mahattaya (Gamini) stands on the staircase landing with his silhouette behind him in dim lighting, which captivated many movie fans, was directed by Lester. Many a cinema lovers feel this seen was one of the best shots taken in a Sinhala silver screen, if not the best.

Boni Mahattaya asked the artist Ariyawansa to paint a portrait of Kamala, the girl who captured his heart. Ariyawansa watched her fetch water from a Kalagadi (clay pot) at a village pond called Kohila Kotuwa” and then step out of it. He asked her to do it again so he could get a better view of her. This was another scene directed by Lester, and many people were captivated by the gentle way the typical village girl kindly accepted the artist’s request.

•             Film Critics and Their Views

Although this movie’s story might have been somewhat controversial in Sri Lankan society at the time, Gamini directed it in a way that made it seem like a family-friendly movie. Since there was no legislation controlling or censoring Sinhala movies in the sixties, Gamini’s only reference would have been the banning of Nalangana (Dancer) in 1960.

Late Jayawilal Wilegoda, a pioneer in Sinhala film criticism and dedicated to promoting better Sinhala movies, wrote that the storyline of Parasathumal was something directors and screenwriters aimed to craft, yet they were unable to do so in 129 Sinhala movies screened before this one.

About the acting skills Jayawilal said almost all the actors performed very well but he was of the opinion that D.R. Nanayakkara, the faithful servant of Bonnie Mahttaya’s parents acting was outstanding.

•             Awards

Gamini Fonseka bagged the Best Actor award and P. K. D. Seneviratne got the Best Script Writer award as well as  Sujatha Aththanayaka Best Female Playback Singer for their performance in the movie Parasathu Mal at the 5th Sarasaviya Awards festival held on July 5, 1967, at the Regal Cinema, Colombo.

•             The Flower That Blossomed On Sinhala Silver Screen

Parasathu Mal was one of the best Sinhala movies that depicted village life in the Neo-feudal society that developed after independence. A 1997 government committee recognized Parasathu Mal as one of the top films produced in the first 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema since the screening of Kadawunu Poronduwa (The Broken Promise) in 1947.

The movie was screened on 26th September 1966, nearly sixty years ago.

•             Preservation and Screening in the 21st Century

Today, traditional film projectors have been replaced by digital projectors, and many modern theatres are being built across the country, upgrading their technology. Therefore, it is essential to digitize old Sinhala movies like Parasathu Mal so they can be shown on the advanced digital projection systems used in theatres today, benefiting old, current, and future generations.

Additionally, digitization helps protect films from decay and loss, ensuring their preservation for future audiences.

I believe it is the responsibility of the Film Corporation” to initiate this process. Both the current owners and the corporation could benefit by offering old movies for benefit shows locally and abroad in cities with large Sri Lankan communities, such as Melbourne, Australia; New Zealand; Italy; and others.

This article is dedicated to “King of Sinhala Cinema” Gamini Fonseka, who brought realism, charisma, and a strong screen presence, shaping the golden era of Sri Lankan cinema, and to the crew who worked with him in his first directing attempt on a Sinhala movie. It is also dedicated to producer Chitra Balasooriya, who took the risk of allowing a novice to direct his movie Parasathu Mal.”

I would like to conclude this article with a poem written by PKDS and sung by Pandith Amaradeva at the end of the movie, which summarises the entire storyline.

බටහිර අහස රතු සිත්තම් මැවුනාවේ

දෙනිපෙත අඬනහිරියා මල් පිපුනාවේ

මා ආදරය දුටු වග නොම  හැඟුනාවේ

මා නැතිදා උන්නු සුවඳක්    දැනුනාවේ

Rohan Abeygunawardena

(Writer could be contacted on abeyrohan@gmail.com)