"Akasa Kusum" Takes Cameras to Railway Station, Slums

"Akasa Kusum" took its cameras to the urban heart of Colombo on its third day's shoot, to film sequences in the Slave Island railway station and the Stace Road slum dwellings. Both sequences were flashbacks involving faded film star Sandhya Rani's past life.
For the station shoot, the crews set up at the station well on time, being ready for the 10.40 train, which would serve at the locomotive that plays in the scene. The shoot, which was a straightforward scene to camera featuring no special rigging or setting up, went off without a hitch. Also playing were 10 extras playing people getting in and out of the train.
The morning's proceedings wound up by half past noon, with the evening shoot at the slum set to begin at 5 p.m.
The dusk/night time slum shots were mainly interior, with D. O. P. MD Mahindapala giving the small, frugal shell of a home a golden glow, using minimalist lighting and painting on shades in giving the home a paraffin lamp lit look in keeping with the characters' reality. After a brief shot beside the adjacent canal, shooting began around 6 p.m. The young Sanduni, neice of Malani Fonseka, playing a younger incarnation of the character played by her famous aunt. The day's shoot wrapped around 8 p.m.