Face 2 Face With Rodney Warnakula
picture credit :google.
By Dr Tilak S. Fernando
He is small
built, short and has a mischievous look about him. He does not have to
open his mouth, but one glance at his eyes and his cheeky smile makes you laugh.
Whether it is a born talent or acting experience, it blends perfectly well with
the characters he has been slotted into, as a comedian.
His
firmly believes that he could do better in a multitude of serious
roles, but not only as a villain all the time. Presently on Sri Lankan television, he has
become very popular with his comedy role as an office peon in Nonawaruni
Mahatwaruni series. His comic releases have shot him up to the top of the
commercial world too, and no one can avoid watching the television in Sri Lanka these
days without seeing Rodney Warnakula jumping up and down with his jokes
and pranks.
He has been
a dramatic artiste for twenty years, yet a few appearances on the 'box' have
helped him to surpass twenty years of fame on stage. His other talent is
singing, yet he has been wise enough, in a world of eternal competition of
singers, to choose a rare section such as theatre songs to cut a CD and an
audiocassette .
Rodney has
two ambitions in life, (1) to diversify his acting career with more serious
roles and (2) to go hammer and tongs with his singing career and to be
recognised as a singer. Although I had only seen him on Sri
Lankan TV, I was privileged to meet with him for the first time in London recently. The moment I set my eyes on him, I was fully convinced him as a
born comedian .
Q. Pardon
my ignorance about your background, because the little I know about you is from
what I have seen on the Sri Lankan Television, especially from the Nonawaruni
Mahatwaruni comedy series and many commercials. It took me by surprise to
see you here with Janaka Kumbukage in London!
A. (Laughter)
I don't blame you Tilak, because you have been here for too long. Am I correct?
Well! I came to London this time with Sriyantha Mendis and his team to take part
in his Paadada Asapuwa, stage drama in London.
Q. Have
you been involved in the performing arts in Sri Lanka for a long time?
A. Yes of
course. I have been a drama artiste for the past twenty years!
Q. How
did you get involved with Drama and Arts in Sri Lanka?
A. I
first appeared in a drama called Thaaravi, which was produced by Lucian Bulathsinhale,
towards the end of 1980
Q. In how
many more stage dramas have you appeared since Tharavi?
A. A
variety of stage dramas, about 25-30 so far.
Q. Have
you appeared mostly on the stage dramas or in tele dramas?
A. Majority
of my performances have been on the stage, and only in a limited number of tele
dramas.
Q What
prompted you to appear on Television?
A. Most
of my television work is centred on TV commercials. Apart from that, I present
various programmes.
Q. You
have another talent, haven't you? Singing!
A. Yes,
It came about in a surprising manner, because in most of my career on stage, I have
had to sing as well in every stage drama where I was chosen for a character.
Q. Have
you not concentrated on professional signing, apart from substituting thespians' role of singing, on stage or on screen?
A. What I
have done recently is to select a few songs I had done for stage actors and pressed a CD, last year. (2000)
Q. What
was the title of the CD?
A. Ha..
Ha… Landé (Hi Hi Girl!) and it contains only songs from stage dramas.
Q. Was it
only a CD ?
A. No,
both CD and on Audio Cassette as well.
Q. What
prompted you to release a cassette particularly out of songs you been singing for drama actors on stage.
A Well
! I believe that it's the best gift I can give to those drama enthusiasts, who
enjoy stage drama. The other reason is that there is quite variety in songs available today, either on CD
or audiocassette, but very rarely one finds drama songs on
CD or on audiocassette.
Q
As you said before, you have been mainly in the field of stage drama for a
considerable period of time. In your aethestic career, you have appeared on the TV comedy
series Nonavaruni Mahathwaruni ( Ladies & Gentlemen) as a start.
A. It's
done by Sirasa establishment, and I have been there from the very inception of
the series.
Q
In my mind, you effortlessly make the viewers laugh and give additional life to
the series, with all the other artistes in the series to make the show quite a hilarious one.
A. What
happened was that when I came to the theatre at the beginning, I did a small
comedy role as Chuun Chang in Tharavi stage play. Ever since, I have been
chosen, for the past 20 years, for comedy characters. This is another
distinctive feature in Sri Lanka among drama and cinema producers and
directors. They look at an artiste's previous performance and slot the actor
into a character similar to the one he had performed earlier. Therefore, the
trend continues, and the person becomes slotted into the chosen character by the
producers and directors, for the rest of his acting career.
Q Are you
trying to say that you would like to do a variety of characters rather than
bogged down as a comedian all the time, and you lack the opportunity to demonstrate
your latent latents and skills in other areas of acting as well?
A. Yes,
quite so. The fact remains that from day one, I have been slotted into the
category of a comedian, and that trend has continued. It’s not only me, but ask
any artiste for that matter, and the answer you will get will be a standard one,
i.e.- any one, if given the opportunity, will like to act in different roles,
different characters to demonstrate their skills. For an actor it would be a learning process all of the time to widen his/her skills and experience.
Q. Are
you not happy about your present situation then?
A. I
can't say I am not happy also completely. After all, everyone likes to have a
laugh, am I not correct? Therefore, by making people laugh you hit a chord with
the viewers and become popular, at least as a comedian! When you go around on
streets and public transport etc., people recognise you and talk to you, and it
gives a certain amount of moral boosting to any artiste. So I can't say I am
not happy altogether but it could be different.
Q Still
in my mind, I am not convinced that you are totally contended having to
continue with the comedy roles for the rest of your career. Am I correct?
A. Well,
if I can put it this way, any actor will be completely happy only when he
has been able to perform in a variety of characters. That would be every
artiste's dream in his or her acting career. More variety makes the actor
confident and experienced. More the merrier if I can put in a jovial jargon.
Q. What
character are you going to play tonight's drama in London, Padada Asapuwa?
A. Here,
I have to act the role of the narrator? (Pothe Gura)
Q. What
is the basis of the story behind this play?
A. It's a
political drama, but Sriantha Mendis is not making a mockery of the prevailing
politics in Sri Lanka. He projects it in a constructive and decent manner to
amplify the present political scenario of the country. The characters in the
play consist of a professor, a medical student, a prostitute, a political
leader and a Padadaya.
Q. What
is the meaning of the word Padada Asapuwa?
A. Padadaya
means a man who operates from the 'underworld' and Asapuwa means abode of peace.
Q
Does it mean to
convey the meaning that Sri Lanka today is an abode of peace except where
representatives from the underworld have entered this 'residence of peace'?
Meaning, subtly that politics in the country are run by a kind of mafia?
A. That
is the present climate of our political situation in our country. What Padada
Asapuwa does is to analyse some aspects of our present day politics in our
country, highlight, and amplify those areas in a mild form.
Q. Have
you performed this drama in Sri Lanka already?
A. Certainly
yes. We have been performing all over the country, and I must tell you that the
audiences liked it very much. We have taken a break of two months, and it is
during this interval that Sriantha Mendis has been able to slot it into an
European tour.
Q. When
we look at your team, it consists of a group of very popular artistes who
are very much in demand in Sri Lanka. How did all of you manage to come out of
the country at the same time, because it must disrupt other producers' and
directors' work, which you all have committed to, and signed contracts with
already?
A. Yes,
we must go back as soon as possible. As you said, there are several producers
of films, stage play and tele drama directors, advertising companies etc., who
have assigned work to us, and they have patiently put on hold their work because of
our tour.
Q. How
did you feel when you landed in London?
A. When
we arrived in Paris, we felt the difference as it was cold, and it reminded us
that we were not in Sri Lankaany more, but these days the London weather is warm
and wonderful and I get the feeling that I am in some part of Sri
Lanka actually. Can't you see I am wearing just a T-shirt like in Sri Lanka? It's
wonderful, same climate as in Sri Lanka now.
Q, Have
you any appeal or comment to the Sri Lankan expatriate community living in the
UK,who will read this column?
A. I am
sure there are so many Sri Lankan Associations and organisations in the UKand
we expect those organisations will afford our community here the
opportunity of enjoying Sri Lankan drama in this manner in the future
too.
Q. What
is your future plans or what is there in the pipeline for you in the immediate
future?
A. As I
told you earlier, through drama I have emerged as a singer and become popular
as a stage drama singer. Given a choice, I prefer to sing, rather than to act.
There are a few teledramas for me in the queue. Nari Bena drama, which
became very popular in 1960, is going to be shown once again in the near future, and I am going to play the role of Nariya (Fox) in this. However, my
main concentration will be on the singing, and hope to diversify my singing
career and produce more CDs in a variety of songs and singing styles.
Q Can we
then expect to see you as more of a popular singer in the future than an actor?
A. (Laughter)
I think I might end up as a Singer, that's my gut feeling.
Q.Good
luck to you Rodney
A. Thank
you very much Tilak.