Thry Minded

THIS SUNDAY – 20th September, 2009

6.30PM onwards

at PUNCHI THEATER

Tickets are priced at Rs. 500/- each: call Shehan on 0773-405985 or Uvindu on 0775-554848 for ticket reservations.

More details here.

Join The Tripp this Sunday

WAGON PARK will be taking the stage supported by KARMIC SULPHUR and GREY MIND DOMAIN to give you 5 hours of classic Rock ‘n’ Roll & take you on a “Tripp” ….

Date – 30th August, 2009

Time – 1500 to 2000

Location – SHINE ( Former Clancy’s)

Tickets – Rs.400/= LADIES FREE

More details here.

Akasa Kusum

Image from http://akasakusum.blogspot.com/

I have noticed that every time I’ve watched a film by Prasanna Vithanage, it has made me think. For days afterward I would randomly remember something from the film, I’d research to understand certain parts of it that I did not fully comprehend. For an example, after watching Ira Madiyama, I attended lectures and discussions about it, read reviews and related articles (and went through a post-modernist phase as a result!) because there was much to think about and digest.

Akasa Kusum had the same effect on me, albeit with a slight difference. While Vithanage has been consistent in making another thought provoking film, this time around my ponderings have been on a more personal level than before and more short lived. Maybe I went in with too high expectations or maybe it really was weaker than his previous works. Someone with more insight could sort that out for me.

The cast was very good and Akasa Kusum is a great example of how much difference a good director could make. I have never been a big fan of Malini Fonseka and while this film did not change my mind overnight, it was heartening to see a sincere performance by her. There were parts where I did not connect to her at all and while it was a good performance overall, I wondered if she lived up to the accolades she has been receiving for this role.

The rest of the cast also performed ably, Dilhani Ekanayake was very believable as the stereotype young film star, Jayani Senanayake and Kaushalya Fernando gave excellent and authentic performances as per usual and Samanalee Fonseka was a revelation in what should have been her debut cinematic performance instead of the ditzy character she played in Heart FM.

But special mention must be made of Nimmi Harasgama. The last time I saw her was in Ira Madiyama (having missed Nisala Gira) and her improvement is astounding. She was a good actor to begin with but there were times when she was not convincing and all that has changed with her role as Priya in Akasa Kusum. Her facial expressions were a treat to watch, whether it were the subtle changes of emotion or the powerful outbursts. The rest of her body language could have been better but all in all, she beautifully (literally and metaphorically) navigated her way through what I believe must have been a difficult and emotionally draining role.

The main reason why I think Nimmi Harasgama outshined Malini Fonseka in this film is because while the latter seemed to present a seemingly shallow portrayal of what was a very tortured character (it felt as if she was merely following the Director’s instructions and not adding her personal input as she mentioned she had) while the former gave part of herself to her role and went beyond what Vithanage had envisaged for the role. In a recent interview Vithanage mentioned that Malini Fonseka gave part of herself to the role but this was hardly translated to the audience. But like I said earlier, this may have been a result of having too many expectations of her and each individual would have their own opinion on how she measured up.

The story was not as powerful as Vithanage’s previous works. While it was wonderful to have him write a female centric script and garner some powerhouse performances from the cast, towards the end of the film it was felt that the characters were not given enough time to ponder over some new twists in the story. I don’t want to go into details in case I give away the entire story. The parodies of modern Sri Lankan television (which Sirasa TV had sportingly been part of) were a nice touch as were the subtle changes in the main character’s appearance, daily routine, etc.

The background score by Lakshman Joseph De Saram captured the spirit of the film very well but I was confused about the abrupt editing of the film. At certain points, it felt as if we were being rushed from one scene to another and I wish there was a more seamless quality to it. I must also note that I’m clueless about such technical aspects of film making and therefore am not qualified to pass judgment on it (though I just did!).

However, the last few seconds of the film changed my doubts about the script because those few lines summed up the personal struggles Vithanage explored through this film and left me with that hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach, which is how I measure a really good film. As I mentioned earlier, Vithanage once again succeeded in making a thought provoking film.

To sum up, Akasa Kusum is a film you should consider watching (though I was very disappointed to find that there were no English subtitles which I didn’t need but some people would, if the film is to reach out to a wider audience) and while it is not Vithanage’s best work, it is a poignant and insightful piece of work on lives that may be alien to most of us.

Rookantha and Chandralekha Live in Concert

Fantastic concert. Thought I’ll quickly upload a sneak peek photo and video before I run off to the land-of-no-internet. Expect a writeup and photos next week. Cheers.

Guest Post – Review: Cantando Cello Ensemble: Lionel Wendt: July 2nd ‘09

By Eshantha Peiris

D minor triad. Multiply by 13 unamplified cellos on the Lionel Wendt stage. Result: one of the most powerful openings to a live concert that I’ve ever experienced. The compositions of J.S. Bach have a knack for being readily adaptable to instruments for which they were not originally written: e.g. from pipe-organ to symphony orchestra (Stokowski), string-band to vocal-jazz-group (Swingle Singers), viola-da-gamba to electric-guitar (Malmsteen), and even apparently, from solo-violin to cello-ensemble. Although listening to the Cantando Cellos’ interpretation of Bach’s Chaconne in D minor from Violin Partita (arr. Laszlo Varga), I was not reminded of a lone fiddle; rather the constantly evolving multiple musical layers shared among the cellos served to create a truly hypnotic sonic landscape of their own (interrupted only occasionally by some very human tuning inaccuracies in the upper notes). Otherworldly music indeed. (no wonder NASA likes sending recordings of Bach on their probes to outer space…) And a fitting introduction to Cantando Cello Ensemble’s 5th annual concert, held on July 2nd.

Jazz-musicians and neuroscientists often marvel at how classical-instrumentalists can synchronize their playing without the aid of a steady beat or a cue-giving conductor. David Popper’s Suite showcased this phenomenon quite vividly, with the cello octet displaying a remarkable sense of group-coordination as they stylishly navigated through fluctuating moods and pulse. I presume they must have rehearsed a lot together.

As with most else on the program, Cesar Franck’s Sonata in A major (originally composed for violin and piano) was presented in an adapted format (featuring Dushy Perera, cello and guest musician Rohan de Silva, piano). I had forgotten what a musically sensitive pianist de Silva can be; the velvety tone he was able to extract from the piano in the first movement was rivaled only by a breathtakingly intuitive sense of ‘rubato’ melodic timing in the solo piano passages. There’s a reason the man is a pro. The second movement, while hectic, was less impressive, but fortunately the cello took over the challenge of driving this brilliant movement to a show-stopping close.

The narrative element of the concert really came to the forefront following the intermission: with the audience comfortably back in their seats (sans noisy cellophane cashew-nut wrappers), the ensemble was successful in immediately drawing the listeners back into the music with a magically quiet vibrato-less chord, before proceeding to conjure up vivid images of fertile landscapes (Dvorak: Largo from ‘New World Symphony’, arr. Lothar Niefind) and dancing skeletons (Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre, arr. Edward Laut). While the use of theatrical lighting cues is not typical of the classical concert format, it did occur to me that more could have been done with the stage-lighting to enhance the dramatic qualities of these two pieces. For future reference I would like to suggest that a music-score-reader be deployed in tandem with the lighting-engineer in order to maximize synchronization of lighting-effects and music.

A curiously witty arrangement of Mancini’s Pink Panther theme by Manilal Weerakoon was able to exploit the full textural vocabulary of the cellos (effects typically relegated to weird experimental music) in service of the musical humour inherent in this famous tune. However, in spite of a grooving walking-bass-line courtesy of Andrea Leitan (double-bass), the rest of the band didn’t quite seem to get the swing-feel required of this music (it felt a bit down-beat-oriented for my taste); but this is a problem with classical-musicians world-wide, so I can’t complain too much. Anyhow, this didn’t stop the audience (and the lighting engineer) from having a ball with this piece!

The excerpts from Bernstein’s West Side Story seem to have become a Cantando trademark, and it seems to sound better every time I hear them play it. With the chorus of Tonight being the ultimate melodic-vehicle for showcasing the ‘cantando’ (i.e. singing) capabilities of the cello, this potentially goose-bump-inducing refrain could have had a bit more support (i.e volume) from the pulsing rhythmic accompaniment, I thought. Bringing in a guest classical percussion player was a nice touch, and added some spice to the music; however I’d love to hear what kind of flavours a specialist Latin-percussionist would be able to bring to the same mix.

Overall, a highly enjoyable concert, now turning into a much-looked-forward-to annual event. Cantando Cello Ensemble must also be commended for maintaining a standard of quality musicianship and ensemble-playing, and in doing so providing a platform for the development of new talent on the local music front. We wish them many more fruitful years of music-making and look forward to hearing more new music from them in the future.