Kala Suri
The Kala Suri ( si, කලා සූරී; ta, கலாசூரி, translit=Kalācūri) is a Sri Lankan national honour awarded "''for special contributions to the development of the arts''". It is conventionally used as a title or prefix to ...
Koddul Arachchige Wilson Perera (born 26 April 1926 – died 20 August 2006 as
කොන්දුල් ආරච්චිගේ විල්සන් පෙරේරා)
inhala, popularly known as K.A.W. Perera, was a
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''Di ...
in
Sri Lankan cinema. Considered as the pioneer of Sri Lankan public cinema, Perera was also a screenwriter, dialogue writer, lyricist and producer who contributed to Sri Lankan drama career for more than five decades.
He died on 20 August 2006 at the age of 80.
Personal life
K.A.W. Perera was born on 26 April 1926 in Havelock, Colombo. His father was Wilmot Perera and his mother was Vidanagamage Kavinihami Ratnayakege Nansina Perera. He first attended to Olcott College and passed English senior exam.
He received his primary education at Boys Industrial Home School, Wellawatte and his secondary education at
Ananda College
''Appamādo Amathapadan''
(Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada)
, motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana
, location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha
, city = Colom ...
, Colombo.
Her mother was very strict on education, hence Perera studied well at the school and passed Junior School Certificate.
He was married to longtime partner Mihindukulasuriya Warnapeliyage Theresa Agnes Perera, who was a nurse. The couple has three children – Nayanananda Chandra Kumara, Jayantha Das Perera and Tamara Chandramali Perera.
Career
Early career
He started his career as an English Assistant Teacher at Biyanwila Government School. He also worked as a copywriter for Lanka Radio and as a program and feature designer, producer and children's program editor.
Some of his popular radio dramas are ''Radio Theater'' and the detective drama ''Inspector Perera''. met Agnes, his future wife during studies at a private institute to prepare University Entrance Examination. At that time, with arising financial problems, he continuously went Employment Exchange to find a job. After some days, he was hired as a clerk at the Education Department.
While at the department, he wrote scripts for
Radio Ceylon
Radio Ceylon ( si, ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සේවය ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', ta, இலங்கை வானொலி, ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first ...
such as ''Jeewitha Sahathikaya'' and ''Rahas Parikshakaya'' produced by late Thevis Guruge and became popular.
Praised by his Director of the Department, Perera was soon appointed as the Assistant English Teacher at a school in Biyanwala in 1949. In 1955, after few years of duty, he quit from the job and moved to Radio Ceylon as a full time writer and copywriter.
He also produced radio programmes such as ''Handa Mama'', ''Radio Sangarawa'' and ''Sinhala Geetha Dhara''.
Cinema career
During his work at Radio Ceylon, Perera met renowned filmmaker
Lester James Peries
Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries ( Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකාභිමාන්ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter, a ...
. Lester selected KAW as the dialogues writer for Sri Lanka’s first pure Sinhala film, ''
Rekava
''Rekava'' (Sinhala for "Line of Destiny") is a 1956 film based on village life and mythical beliefs in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). It is the first Sinhala film fully shot in Ceylon and was film shot outdoors in the country. It was also the first ...
''.
KAW also worked with Lester for the next film ''
Sandesaya
''Sandesaya'' (Sinhalese language word meaning ''The Message'') is a 1960 film. The film based on the war between the Sinhalese people and the Portuguese invaders in Sri Lanka. It was directed by Sri Lankan film director Lester James Peries. It w ...
'' as dialogues writer. In 1960, he co-directed his debut film ''Pirimiyek Nisa'' along with T. Somasekaran. The film was produced by E. A. P. Edirisinghe.
In 1963, he co-produced the film ''Suhada Sohoyuro'' with Edirisinghe. In 1966 he directed the film ''Sanasuma Kothanada'' and won the
Sarasaviya award for the best film.
He met his best friend Premalal Edirisinghe at Radio Ceylon during the production of ''Sandeshaya''.
Since his debut, KAW made blockbuster milestones in Sinhala cinema history which includes ''Kapatikama'', ''Bicycle Hora'', ''Penawa Neda'', ''Kathuru Muwath'', ''Janaka Saha Manju'', ''Lokuma Hinawa'', ''Ihatha Athmaya'', ''Aparadaya saha Danduwama'', ''Lasanda'' and ''Undaya''.
Perera involved to introduce many talented faces to Sinhala cinema, whom became some major stars in coming ages. He introduced
Geetha Kumarasinghe
Kumara Vidugalage Dona Geetha Samanmalee Kumarasinghe (born 5 July 1955: si, ගීතා කුමාරසිංහ), popularly known as Geetha Kumarasinghe, is a Sri Lankan film actress and Member of a Parliament. She is the current State M ...
to silver screen through his film ''Wasana''. Then he introduced
Vijaya Nandasiri
Ilukpitiya Mudiyanselage Vijaya Nandasiri (born 6 May 1944 – died 8 August 2016 as විජය නන්දසිරි) was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. Considered a leading dramatist in Sri Lankan cinema, ...
to cinema with ''Nedeyo''.
He introduced maestro
Premasiri Khemadasa
Deshamanya Kala Keerthi Dr.Premasiri Khemadasa ( Sinhala: ආචාර්ය ප්රේමසිරි කේමදාස ) (25 January 1937 – 24 October 2008) also known as "Khemadasa Master" was a Sri Lankan music composer. Exploring ...
to cinema with ''Sanasuma Kothanada'' as well as lyricist Dharmasiri Gamage. With his final film ''Sumedha'', renowned musician
Rookantha Gunathilake
Mario Glory Rookantha Goonatillake (born 5 September 1959: si, රූකාන්ත ගුණතිලක), is a Sri Lankan singer, musician and songwriter. One of the most influential musical artists in Sri Lanka, Rookantha started his caree ...
has introduced into Sinhala cinema as musical director.
In 1956, he was honored at Taskkent’ International Film festival for the film ''Lasanda''. In 1976, Perera won the award for the best director at OCIC film festival in Rome for ''Lasanda''.
In 1964, he wrote the screenplay and dialogues for the film ''Saravita'', which was directed by Tissa Liyanasuriya. Later he received the award for Best Screenplay at the 1965 Sarasaviya Awards for this film. Among the popular programs that were started and produced by KAW during radio ceylon were ''Handa Mama'' for children, ''Radio Sagarawa'' for teenagers and ''Wasanawa Udawa'' for adult intelligence development. In 1966, he was censored from the radio, because it is strictly forbidden to engage in any activity related to the art of cinema during or outside the office hours of the radio. Therefore KAW and Karunaratne Abeysekera quit their permanent jobs and devoted themselves full time to cinema.
In 1972, he was a pioneer for the creation of the Sri Lanka film corporation.
Legacy
On 19 November 2013, a felicitation ceremony and three-day film festival was held at BMICH to celebrate Perera's contribution to Sinhala cinema.
Filmography
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, K.A.W.
Sri Lankan male film actors
Sinhalese male actors
1926 births
2006 deaths
Sinhalese writers
Sri Lankan screenwriters
Kala Suri
Alumni of Ananda College
20th-century screenwriters