May 21 2012.
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Deshamanya Dr. Upul Jayasinghe's name sounds familiar largely because of the awards he had been winning in diverse spheres over a period of three decades.
In 2000 he was adjudged the most popular cassette producer (Nilwala) at the Rasa Music Awards. Ten years later he walked away with the Sumathi and Raigam awards for the most popular tele drama ‘Ithin Eeta Passe’.
At the 16th Sumathi tele awards ceremony, the most popular actor and actress were from his tele drama 'Bonda Meedum'.
At the recent Raigam Tele'es held at Water's Edge, Upul Jayasinghe - Chairman of the Nilwala Group of companies - walked away with the award for the most popular tele drama 'Sihina Piyapath'.
“You must love whatever you do and that will certainly bring success,” says Deshamanya Dr. Upul Jayasinghe.
“I was an ardent lover of songs from my childhood. Jothi was my favourite singer. That passion made me produce Jothi’s first cassette under the Nilwala label. Even when I was an engineering student at the Moratuwa campus, I could not suppress my love for arts. Nilwala Enterprises was doing well and I was compelled to get involved with the production of cassettes. I was fond of writing too. So, I started publishing a film magazine called ‘Cinema Sakwithi’. We had to abandon it after about a year. My love for films and tele dramas made me launch a production house – the Nilwala Video Team which became popular in the field. I first produced a tele drama called ‘Deepashika’ and followed it up with creations like Yeheli, Ganga Dige, Night Learners, Raja Sabhawa, Kota Uda Mandira and others,” he said.
As a businessman he has even won overseas awards from Geneva, Paris and Madrid. He produced the film ‘Nilambare’ based on the popular novel by Sujeewa Prasannarachchi and the movie was indeed significant.
Ranjan Ramanayake won the best actor’s award for the role in the film while Kanchana Kodituwakku won the award for the best supporting actor.
“The latest award I received for Sihina Piyapath is a slap in the face for the people who stood against the popular mega tele drama culture. They only wanted the audiences to watch their creations. Making films and tele dramas was not a business for me. I loved the art and I catered to the masses of this country, though a small minority was against it. The people of this country have proven that I have been right. Most of the tele dramas that were awarded or nominated for popular awards were my own productions.
Now they are trying to bring in new laws to curtail tele dramas to 100 episodes. Ithin Eeta Passe ended with 508 episodes but the people expected more. Nobody can curtail the creative talents of artistes and tele drama makers. I am grateful to Sihina Piyapath director Sandun Rajakaruna, script writers Edwin Peiris and Sanath Samaranayake as well as executive producers Lalith Wasantha and Neil Rukman. But on top of all, I must convey my sincerest gratitude to all fans who have placed so much of trust in me,” said Upul Jayasinghe.
1 Comments
kasun maduranga says:
Aug 15, 2016 at 10:16 amDear sir I want to apply your nilwala talent factoy drama and music group as students .pls kindly request you pls call me .i am waiting ur call 0772798828. Best regards Kasun maduranga