Watching Dinuk Wijeratne play the piano is like watching a man engaged in an intense conversation. He purses his lips and then pulls them back in a grimace; he shakes his head furiously then nods in complete satisfaction. Sometimes he mouths words, sometimes he stands up as if ready to pick a fight but sometimes … Continue reading
Author of Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Nayomi Munaweera seems in equal parts amused and amazed that the first line in her debut novel has managed to generate so much fuss. The prologue opens on a couple, who’ve just finished making love. She’s still awake, he is asleep, her sister’s name on his lips. “I … Continue reading
I first meet Sumudu Jayatilaka in her music. In ‘Supergirl,’ a melody meant for sunny skies and red balloons, where she tells me that she sometimes wishes she could fly away. In ‘Angel’ she lets me in on a secret – no one can ever doubt her, more than she doubts herself. These are, in … Continue reading
Shanaka Amarasinghe arches a single eyebrow. When the occasion calls for it, Ashini Fernando and Tehani Welgama exchange pointed looks and grin wickedly. Unfortunately, Chamath Arambewala isn’t here to join the rest of the cast but director Thushara Hettihamu volunteers to put words in his mouth. This week, I’m one on four with the actors … Continue reading
When Ferdinand Reille, aged 11, whacks Bruno Vallon in the face with a stick, he breaks two incisors. The kerfuffle in the playground forces the boys’ parents – Alain and Annette and Véronique and Michael – into the same room to discuss possible reconciliation. However, an encounter that begins with coffee and clafoutis quickly deteriorates: … Continue reading
Mika Tennekoon’s small living room is packed full of suitcases. That’s great because Mika is a girl going places, except in the strictly literal sense. It’s been over two years since she gave up her job in London to return home and it’s been a comfortably productive period in her life. Mika’s work – fanciful, … Continue reading
The Old Railway is housed in what used to be an electrician’s shop. Upstairs, a pretty little café overlooks the canal but it is the workshop downstairs that Catherine Rawson really considers her domain. There are clothes everywhere you look and interspersed among them are an eclectic selection of books and jewellery, bags and handicrafts. … Continue reading
In Asgi Akbarally’s family, a car is never just a car. Sitting in his office off Darley Road, Asgi tells us each car has a story. A collector and connoisseur, he is behind a beautiful new coffee table book titled ‘Classic and Vintage Automobiles of Ceylon’. He and his sons Hussain and Shiraz together selected … Continue reading
Darshi Keerthisena is that rare hybrid – an astute businesswoman and the head of her own company on one hand and on the other a master designer with an enviable body of work to her credit. Where you might see an item of clothing, Darshi sees a canvas and way to reinvent an old and … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 