ISSUES

A shining star against all odds By Marianne David Popular actor Kamal Addaraarachchi's childhood dreams did not revolve around becoming a star of the screen. "My dream was to be a doctor!" he says, laughing. "I was having mega fantasies like giving life to dead people, transplants and finding a cure for aging and all sorts of things like that," explains Kamal.

everything I touch, I end up breaking. I would try to fix them back and actually now I can do it," said Kamal.

If not taking things apart, it was telling stories that took up his time. "I used to be one of the storytellers in school and we used to fabricate all kinds of stories. One of my friends and I were basically trying to get more attention so we used to have competitions and we never wanted to stop a story."

Although Kamal bagged the Best Actor award at the recently held Sarasaviya Film Festival for his role in Agnidahaya, his talent wasn't always appreciated.

He had an interesting start when he first ventured into the acting world, and even resorted to forgery to take part in his first movie.

The Sunday Leader interviewed Kamal Addaraarachchi at the BMICH where he was to be the compere at a show later on in the evening. Once, Kamal had to go on stage where he started singing. As his voice filled the almost empty hall, one is reminded again of that magic he has that keeps audiences spellbound.

Kamal's hands captivate you as he speaks for it seems that they speak as well. Full of gestures, he talks about the days when he first came into the movie scene.

School days

A past pupil of Wesley College, Kamal started his artistic career in school. It first started with taking part in concerts. In grade four, he had a teacher named Basil Mihiripenne who used to do ballets and such in school, which got his interest.

"Even then it was participation only, I didn't think I would become an actor. In grade five, another teacher, Nimal Fernando did a play with dialogue and it was very popular. This diverted my attention to drama. In grade eight, a veteran in the drama field, Gamini Samarakoon got us involved in pantomime. I used to do female parts as well. Then he turned to plays with dialogue as well and he used to teach us in a very liberal way," says Kamal.

Although he was showing a lot of talent when it came to acting by this time, he was more interested in music. "Singing you could do alone with nobody else, so that diverted me more towards music and I formed a band called Cats Eye in school. One of the members is now a leading bass guitarist in the US," said Kamal.

While in grade nine, he saw an advertisement saying the youth theatre play was going to be made by a German professor organised by the Institute of Theatre for Children and Youth and applied to take part.

"I got this opportunity because Haig Karunaratne, another professor in our school, knew that I was actively involved in drama and was showing talent in this field and my principal also used to say I was a born actor. I went for the interview and I got selected. There were people like Sriyantha Mendis and Jayantha Chandrasiri also there."

But being selected alone was not enough. Kamal also had to get permission from home. "My father was a business-minded person and I knew he would never like me going into movies. I cried and got my way because I had to cut school for three months and enter the workshop. I managed to get in and we did a play called Aney Ablik. It was in 1978 if I'm not mistaken and that was the first stage-play that I acted in at a professional level."

Taking part in Aney Ablik made Kamal want to learn more about acting. "I learnt some techniques through this German doctor such as how to manipulate parts of my body with my knowledge. Awareness is very important for an actor."

"The group from Aney Ablik had young blood craving for new creations and exploration. We thought we were very well learned and we will get opportunities but they never came. Then Jayantha did his first drama, which my mother produced, and we took part in it. A producer named Ananda Abeynayake came to see this play and he told Gamini Fonseka about me."

First film

That was when Kamal had his big break. Gamini Fonseka selected Kamal for the first film he acted in - Sagarayak Meda - in 1979. "I was so happy that things were falling on my side."

But this time Kamal had to find a way to take part in the movie without his family finding out because he knew his father would not let him do so. "I made a small stamp as if I was going for a scouting camp and wrote a letter like I was the principal asking my father permission to go on the camp."

Kamal's father did not even look at the note, asking Kamal to read it out instead. "I read out what I fabricated and it asked for my father's consent to send me on the camp and my father told me to write a reply. I wrote myself another reply and threw it away."

However, his father found out that Kamal had lied and sent his mother to see his principal. "But the principal had said there was a camp but he  didn't know if I  was  there. He loved me so much that he covered up for me. So that was my interesting start!"

"However, Sagarayak Meda was a disappointment for me because it was supposed to be released in 1981 but was banned because it was politically controversial. It was finally released in 1983 - I had to wait so long to see my first movie. But I made an impact with that and I was known from that time onwards."

Kamal says he automatically neglected his schooling because he had no support from home for what he was doing and the lack of concern for his desires made him lose interest in his studies.

Soon after, Titus Totawatte selected Kamal for a tele-drama, which was Kamal's first tele-drama called Pin Madha Puthun.

Although he became popular, he didn't get any work because at that time the industry was going down and even the veterans didn't have much work, said Kamal. "The industry started collapsing in that era due to over production and bad maintenance. I was given opportunities to do commercial movies but I didn't want to act in third class commercial movies. I took part in the few films I liked. I never wanted to go behind money or fame because when I grow old I want to teach the future generation something rather than be a source of a humiliation."

Kamal is full of praise for the man who he says introduced him to the industry, Gamini Fonseka. "Acting with him is absolutely interesting. He is the best actor we have and to get work out of him we have to have other great people like Lester James Peiris and Vasantha Obeysekera."

During this time, Kamal also studied under Dr. Salaman Fonseka from whom he learnt his method acting.

While his childhood activities revolved around getting attention, he now prefers to concentrate on more serious things. "I am not interested in getting attention now. My motivation and aspirations are more serious and I have a different perspective."

Kamal won the best playback singer for the first song he sang for a movie, the movie Saptha Kanya and he also plans to make a music VCD in the near future.

He says he enjoyed taking part in the A9 tele-drama because it deals with the ethnic problem. "I adore acting in dramas. I never got many English plays but I acted in It's A Matter Of Time and I enjoyed it."

"As artistes I think we have to have a vision to make people think in a sane way and with peaceful minds. We have to provide people with cinema that shows how to live with themselves; to relieve pressure and give them entertainment," said Kamal.

Speaking about the award, Kamal says, "I feel good about the award because all along I knew there should be appreciation down the line somewhere. Two of my films were nominated - Salelu Varama and Agnidahaya - and I won the award for my part in Agnidahaya.

"I have dedicated my life to make good films and to do proper characters and also to giving good entertainment to the people rather than cheap stuff. Unless I get a good role, it's pointless wasting time over cheap publicity and just another number in your portfolio as a film you have done."

Future plans

His future plans are linked with the artistic life and he believes more people should be involved in doing things for the industry. His dreams revolve around having a fabulous cinema in Sri Lanka and he plans to create a lot of music. "My personal life is always entangled with everything," he says.

Kamal also works in a company and runs his  own advertising firm.

While he is satisfied with what he is doing, Kamal is not satisfied with his involvement in the industry. "Here we are with a good vision but it is difficult to achieve. One of the reasons of getting into business is to fulfill some of the requirements of this aspiration to meet the needs of the film industry. Money talks for everything here."

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