It’s close to 6 p.m. and the three wheeler driver throws me a dubious look when I tell him to take me to Rio cinema in Slave Island. Once there, I’m happy to leave the cinema’s two solitary patrons to their film to follow Subha Wijesiriwardena and Tracy Holsinger on their way to a rehearsal. … Continue reading
Each episode of the television show ‘America’s Got Talent’ draws anywhere between 10 and 12 million viewers in the United States alone. This is the largest audience Sean Panikkar, 31, has ever performed for and it makes for an unusual twist in an already very successful career. Having been voted through to the semi-final round … Continue reading
Kaveri Lalchand’s official bio notes that she is an ‘actor-dancer-cook’ but a more comprehensive description might read ‘actor-dancer-cook-designer-publisher-entrepreneur’ and if you were looking for more nouns to describe her they wouldn’t be hard to find. Traveller is one – she was in Mumbai when she did this email interview with the Sunday Times but is … Continue reading
In 2007, the confluence of the Writers’ Guild of America strike and new fatherhood made Sanjit De Silva consider giving up acting. In a piece printed in the Actors Centre Journal in 2009, Sanjit agonised about what he owed his young son and whether he would be able to provide for him. “It seemed like … 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
Sulochana Dissanayake lives in a crowded house. There’s an elephant on her porch and the decapitated head of a giant on her dining room table. There’s a herd of animals – a zebra, chimpanzee, a ‘gangster’ penguin and another, smaller elephant – and a host of characters right out of Sri Lankan folklore (old Mahadanamutta … Continue reading
Growing up Sri Lankan, Hindu and transgender in Lancaster, U.S.A would give D’Lo all the material he ever needed to be a comedian. His stories about a little boy “trapped” in the body of a girl born to conservative, immigrant Tamil parents are as hilarious as they’re heart wrenching; and they’re what he brought to … Continue reading
For a journalist, meeting the cast of the Workshop Players’ forthcoming production of ‘Evita’ can be an intimidating business. One is faced not just with one, but four Evas and three Ches and two Perons besides. Do you blame me for saying ‘No, thank you,’ to meeting the Magaldis? High flying’ adored: From left, Dilrukshi … Continue reading
One imagines that somewhere on Prasad Pereira’s list of life’s essentials, you’d find ‘watching movies’ noted down just under ‘air,’ ‘water,’ and ‘food.’ “I’ve always been mad about cinema since I was really, really young and film making is very important to me,” he says, “it’s more than a career, it’s one of those things … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 