A Hard Day at SPM

A 1970's era film studio set was resurrected at one of Sri Lanka's oldest movie houses, SPM Studios in Kandana, as "Akasa Kusum" re-created a film stage as part of its flashback scenes today. Taking its cue from the flashy, cliche-ridden, Indian carbon-copy films of the era, the scene featured a cool-for-his-time Suraj Mapa and a glitzy Upeksha Swarnamalini as the main players in this scene within a scene. Also playing were extras dressed as workers on the film set of that era, replete with antique props.
The scene takes place in an old film studio, where a young Sandhya Rani is taken to a shoot. Director Prasanna Vithanage said the scene would be told in flashback, with its characters only serving as minor players in a bigger plot. The song-and-dance scene staged for the scene borrowed from the many cliches that plagued the Sinhala cinema at the time, taking its cue from the HR Jothipala song 'Me Ware Mage' from the Gamini Fonseka-Sonia Disa starrer "Ohoma Hondada."
The shoot was a 13-hour one, beginning at 7 a.m. in Kandana. With lighting and rigging taking up most of the morning, filming began at around 11 a.m. with the film sequences receiving attention first. Though the lighting was not complex, time was taken to achieve the perfect balance and effect, with DOP Mahindapala fine tuning till he got the alchemy of light and shade just right. Following shooting of the crew sequences, shooting wrapped at 8 p.m.