His films are different and they stand apart from mainstream Sri Lankan cinema.
Prasanna Vithanage is a director who tries to explore the intricacies of the human psyche at different levels.
‘Akasha Kusum’ is one such film of Vithanage that traces the life of an actor who goes through many ups and downs in her acting career.
And this 46 year-old veteran film director was here in Kochi on Sunday to present ‘Akasha Kusum’ (Flowers of the Sky) at a screening organised by the Metro Film Society.
“This is the story of the industry I belong to. Unlike in my other movies I focused on myself and the film industry in particular. It was an attempt to express what I perceived in the industry in a short span. And the film is my tribute to all actors,” says Vithanage as he takes a break after the film screening.
Vithanage is very fascinated with theatre. He has been involved with theater since the day he left school. He translated and directed Bernad Shaw’s ‘Arms and the Man’ in 1986, and Dario Fo’s ‘Raspberries and Trumpets’ in 1991. He stepped into the film industry with ‘Sisila Gini Gani’ (Ice on Fire) which was highly acclaimed and bagged many awards.
“Theatre is totally different from cinema. However, I love working with talented actors whether it is for film or theatre. One of the prime reasons for me to venture into the industry is that,” he says.
‘Ira Madiyama’ (August Sun, 2003),’Pawuru Wallalu’ (Walls Within, 1997), ‘Purahanda Kaluwara’ (Darkness on a Full Moon Day, 1997) and ‘Anantha Rathriya’ (Dark Night of The Soul, 1996) are the other pathbreaking movies that etched his name on the international film scene.
“When I have the time I organise workshops on film making to educate and train young people. A lot of youngsters want to come to this field. The technology has been developed in a big way, making everything very simple,” says Vithanage.
The recipient of many accolades in and outside the country, Vithanage is a lover of movies in other languages and plans to make one soon. “I would love to make a movie in Malayalam. There are many talented film makers here who have inspired me,” he says. He is currently working on the script of his forthcoming film on the real life story of Pablo Neruda. Though he watches and admires commercial movies he does not want to make one. “I love to watch sensible commercial movies. But I will never want to make a film with commercial interest,” says Vithanage.
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