Derana Goes Alternative over Peppermint Candy

Love is a confession… A turn of phrase that shot through into a night of stars at the Derana Music video awards held on last Friday, 5th November. ‘Aadaraye Ansumaathrayak’ carrying the theme love is a confession was nominated for 8 categories out of which it won 5 titles for

Best Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best overall act
Best Video Adaptation of a movie song


The video directed by Udaya Dharmawardana, echoed in person by Indrachapa Liyanage, is the Official Music Video of the film ‘How I Wonder What You Are’ directed by Udaya Dharmawardana and Chinthana Dharmadasa. The film was a venture into the unsought grounds of independent cinema by the director duo, where an unconventional cinematic experience revolves around two souls seeking for a human bond within the forgotten language of connectivity.



This year’s Derana music awards took a massive alternative turn where the video of Funeral in Heaven was awarded as the best music video of the year and the very original ‘Gemba’ was also awarded for its daring innovativeness along with the eminence Aadaraye Ansumaathrayak received. The channel seems to have taken a step at the edge of hope to uplift the underground attempts of local artists to promote artfully rich creations which may have bound to go unnoticed in midst of the hollow sugar coated, candy floss stream the industry has currently crowned. Its motives were confirmed by the persons who were invited to judging panel that holds eminence for their original artistic ideology as Subash Pinnawala, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Sumeda and Shyam


Winds of Uva was recognized for Best Music Video, Best English Music Video and Best Rock Music Video at Derana Music Video Awards



Gemba, an innovative unconventional take in Sri Lankan music videos

One of the most popular category awards which was based on the SMS’s received by the public was won by a ‘Mr. Wanna be’ like Iraj who claims himself to be fighting a battle for the cults of the society with his ‘so called’ art. This makes it clear on what grounds the mindset of the public lies today where they’ve lost their own thought of identity into what cheap money oriented gimmicks wants it to be. So eventually the public is merely puppets of what some power sourced social stunt perceive them to be. Being locked away from authentic arty creations for decades where many like Vimukthi’s own Cannes passed the country by and where rainbow colored fluff balls were platformed; the people cannot be blamed but sympathized for having no sense of rational contentment and simply gobbling down whatever bullshit that’s fed to them with so much imagined goodness.

At a point in time as such, the attempts made by Derana (Assumed that they were consciously made) to recognize the potentials where art could foster for the richness in it, dues an immense load of respect. But we can’t say ‘hail Derana’ in unison as at yet. Does it have the power to continue the step they took forward and keep going deeper into the woods or would this merely be a single apex that helps them to cover as much as scope they can and how well they face the pressure and reactions of the air headed gimmicks labeled as ‘artists’; are questions that would have to be left to be answered with time.

Post courtasy : Randhula De Silva

Dancehall

A lot of people seem to be surprised by my enthusiasm on the Sean Paul concert happening next week. I personally find that its all about perception. Sean Paul is Jamaican and one of the many commercial artists coming from the Caribbean. This includes Rhianna, Bahamen, Sean Kingston and Bob Marley who share a common base, primarily traditional African music, though broken up into Reggae, Dancehall and the many other genres today.
Anyway, I'm not too familiar with the whole history of the islands, but I do know that the people in this region did go through a lot of hardship and still do, due to the effects of colonization, slavery ("Outward expressions of African culture were not permitted. Women would use oral tradition to keep past traditions and histories alive.Dance also became an integral part of culture among slaves. This was a way in which women (along with men) could offer up prayers to their gods as well as release emotion. Slaves would often engage in dancing ceremonies on their free time as it was a way in which they could freely express themselves and their cultural heritage against the orders of their colonial oppressors"), mass brain drain and some natural disasters (Haiti).

Anyway, history will have to attest to the great music, dance and rich self-expression coming from this region over the years. Nice.

Whoa. Flexible...some dance students all the way from Poland!

Diss if you can actually dance like this :D