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24th March 2002

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All for Christ

Kumudini Hettiarachchi meets Ranil Rajapakse who has been bringing to life the message of Good Friday for the past 20 years 

'Ea kumakatada?' (For what?) directed by Shanthi Dias will be staged at St. Joseph's Church, Kanuwana, Ja-ela under the guidance of Fr. Joseph Perera on Good Friday, March 29 at 1 p.m..

Meanwhile, 'Kithu Samidun Samaga' written by Fr. Molligoda Moses and directed by Thirajh Lester will be telecast on Rupavahini on Good Friday at 9.30 p.m.

They scourge him, insult him, adorn him with a crown of thorns, make him carry a roughly-hewn cross and finally nail him to it. Sometimes, the cross is very heavy and the agony unbearable. But he bravely carries on, all for Christ's sake.

Meet Ranil Rajapakse, Sri Lanka's "Christ" who willingly follows in the agonizing and weary footsteps of Christ, bringing to life that momentous and historic event 2002 years ago that changed the world's course forever. Yes, every year on Good Friday, Ranil brings to the humble and powerful, the message of forgiveness, sacrifice, unconditional love and eternal life that flowed forth from the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ on far away Calvary.

"For nearly 20 years I've played the role of Christ, in the Passion plays held at various churches across the country and also in television dramas," says self-effacing Ranil, though he could be rightfully proud of his achievements. The growth and evolution of his acting career over the years are documented in bulging photo albums and scrap books spilling with news clippings. He has acted with popular actors and actresses in many films and dramas, too numerous to mention, but his beginnings are as humble as those of Christ.

Living in Modera, Ranil attended the nearby De La Salle College, where his talents were first spotted by teachers there. They assigned to him a role in the Christian play, 'David and Goliath'. From then on, his life seemed to be predestined and also inextricably linked to the role of Christ.

1982 saw a major turning point for him, when St. Mary's Church in Tudella, Ja-ela decided to stage the drama, Pilate's Judgement, under the guidance of Fr. Joseph Perera. That was the humble stage on which he first played the role of Christ. Being a devout Catholic, the events in Christ's life were not strange to him. There he portrayed the public life of Jesus, from His first miracle of changing water into wine in Cana, through the other miracles of making the blind see, the lame walk, onto the Last Supper with the disciples, His betrayal by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane, Pilate's judgement to crucify Him like a common criminal, the painful Way of the Cross, the agony of the crucifixion and the hope of the resurrection. 

For four years, the Passion play was staged at this church, but lack of money for costumes and props such as the Roman palaces and also village politics, in a smaller measure saw it peter out. But Ranil simply could not get the spirit of Christ out of his system. He could not be stopped, and every year thereafter, as Lent began, he took up the challenge of doing the role in dramas such as the 'Good Samaritan', 'From the Stage to Gol-gotha', 'Pemaka Mahima', 'Golgothawe Geethaya', 'Maha Padanamaskaraya', 'Api Ohu Maruwemu' mostly for Rupavahini and also for ITN. He also took to street drama and acted out the crucifixion at street corners and went across the country performing in different churches. 

Other roles too came his way and he speaks nostalgically of the time he acted as Sri Lanka's 'saint', Joseph Vaz, for a Rupavahini production. This four-episode drama, allotted the longest airtime any Christian work has ever got, was scripted by Clive Shantha, with Fr. Benedict Joseph and Rohan Welivita co-directing. "When filming this, I had to be in a river somewhere close to Kochchikade for a long time. What nobody told me was that there were crocodiles in that river. I got quite a shock when I heard that. Luckily it was after the filming, otherwise they would have been hard put to persuade me to get into the water," laughs Ranil.

However, all those are minor happenings when compared to the preparation, both physically and spiritually, he makes when playing that all-important role of Jesus. "I try to lead a good life. I don't drink. For the 40 days of Lent - the period when Christians the world over relive the agony of Christ - I do the Way of the Cross, keep the holy hour and generally cut out the fun times. I stop watching TV, don't go for parties, stop eating meat and try to fast whenever possible. Lately, it has become difficult for me to fast because I have gastritis," he laments.

Now, two decades after he began following in the footsteps of Christ upto the summit of Calvary, he is a contented man, satisfied with small mercies. But life does become hectic for this 52-year-old father of three grown-up sons during the Lenten season. Running a school service, as he puts it, he wakes up at the crack of dawn, and is on the road from early morning to around 3.30 p.m. taking children to school and back. Then it's a hurried lunch, a short rest and off to Kanuwana in Ja-ela, by 6 p.m. where the Passion play will be staged this year. One of his sons too has been taking on minor roles in the Passion play.

Is he grooming his offspring for this difficult role, which most people won't dare touch? He shrugs and laughs off the question as if to say, "What will be will be".

What then are the hopes and aspirations of this local 'Christ'? "I have a good family and my wife has, thank God, recovered after surgery to remove a cancerous growth on her neck. What more can I ask for? I am privileged to play the role of Christ, for I make many friends," says Ranil, stressing that he does not charge a fee for any of the church plays. 

"I only meet more and more people and make new friends," he adds earnestly.

And the words of Christ to his disciples, "I will make you fishers of men", come to mind as Ranil bids adieu, inviting us to see him in rehearsal in the evening by lamplight. 



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