It's always a nice feeling when one gets the chance to go back to one’s old school after several years. And the occasion was a fascinating one. A renowned old Anandian - described by the principal as "a pride of Ananda" - was being felicitated.
The key event was the launch of a book by a junior-old Anandian. Over half a century, the senior old boy, Titus Totawatta had distinguished himself as a film editor, director and in the latter part of his career, pioneer in dubbing television serials. Young Nuwan Ranjith Kumara had done an exhaustive study on Titus's contribution to cinema and television titled 'Sonduru Adiyuru Sakasuvano' (The humane editor and director).
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| Nuwan presenting the book to the ‘pride of Ananda College’, Titus Totawatta |
The evening was enthralling. Formalities were minimal. Those who had worked with Titus related their experiences - mostly in lighter vein but it was meaningful. For the speakers he was either 'Ti Mahattaya' or 'Ti Maama'.
In between speeches, episodes from his creative work were re-enacted and audio-visual presentations demonstrated his talents. Though not in the best of health, Titus keenly followed the proceedings flanked by wife Sujatha and elder brother Aelian.
The audience was taken on a memorable journey. Sumitra Pieris reminisced about her first meeting with Titus - in Paris when Titus came there with Lester bringing 'Rekawa' to the Cannes Festival. (Titus had edited the film). That was in the mid-50s. She was understudy to Titus in 'Sandesaya' and was all praise for his knowledge on the subject which gave her confidence to edit 'Gamperaliya'.
For Sanath Gunatilleka, working with "tough task master" Titus on one of the earliest teledramas, 'Ran Kahavanu' was a new experience. "When Ti Mahattaya invited Jeevan (Kumaratunga) and myself along with several others to act in the teledrama, everyone advised us that it won't be easy. Everyone said he had a temper and would shout at you. Yet, after an initial chat with Ti Mahattaya we decided to give it a try. It turned out to be quite interesting and motivating," said Sanath, relating many a pleasant moment.
Athula Ransirilal, one of the chief 'golayas' of Titus and presently head of Rupavahini Corporation's dubbing division spoke of the early days when Titus used to be at his desk by 5 a.m.to start work. "He was an early riser and we had no choice. We had to be there and we did."
He recalled that Titus's style of work was different to accepted norms. Most of what he wanted was in his mind and very littlewas put down on paper. Yet at the end of it a perfect job had been done. And when he was at work, he didn't pay attention to anyone who walked into the room. Athula related how one day when some uninvited guest walked in when they were working Titus ignored him and carried on with his work. After about 20 minutes the visitor had announced that he had been sent by a high-up and mentioned a politico’s name. Titus didn't even care to look at him, forcing the visitor to walk out.
Saman Ataudahetti is one of two survivors from the original voice dubbing team that Titus selected when, after a training course in Germany Titus set up a unit to dub cartoons and other foreign tele serials. Saman was all praise for the way Titus trained them to be masters of the art.
'Silumina' editor Karunadasa Sooriyarachchi remembered the days when as a schoolboy he saw 'Chandiya' at least thrice. It was so exciting, he said. He spoke of Titus's creativity in publicising his films. Once he had a full picture of Gamini Fonseka emerging out of the screen with a kris knife in hand. He had the actual car used in the famous Turf Club robbery mounted on a hoarding opposite the Maradana railway station to advertise his film, 'Haara Lakse'.
Talking about the book, he praised Nuwan for doing such a comprehensive study on Titus' s work making it a fitting tribute to a man who had so much talent.
Nuwan giving an account on compiling the book admitted it was a huge challenge to do an in-depth study of a pioneer who had made such a contribution to both cinema and television in Sri Lanka. He had spent a lot of time doing research to prove that Titus was the first genuine film editor in this country. Titus had introduced a lot of new editing patterns that he had gathered from global cinema.
His was a yeoman service in the fields of dubbing and sub-titling for television. Titus was also a pioneer in the field of children's cinema. His award winning creation 'Handaya' was acknowledged as the first Sinhala children's film and was a vast success.
Nuwan commented that at a time children like him were losing interest in the children's programmes over Rupavahini in its early days, Titus came along and revolutionised the programmes. Thereafter, they could enjoy some fine cartoon films as well as some of the best works in world literature.
Nuwan showed his own creativity in planning out the evening with the active participation of children. They talked about 'Pissu Poosa' and 'Mr. Honda Hitha' and sang the theme song of 'Handaya' taking us all back to an era when Titus reigned supreme. |
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