CAN YOU HEAR ME?

Bandarawela self-quarantined tele drama team caught in muddle

A 25-member tele drama team was stranded in Bandarawela following an unfortunate episode which the project’s award-winning director calls unwarranted. Director Sunil Costa is working on his current tele drama project ‘Can You Hear Me?’ which is now being telecast on state television Rupavahini. Weeks ago Sunil Costa’s previous tele drama ‘Sudu Endagena Kalu Ewidin’ clinched several key awards including the ‘best tele drama of the year’ award at the Raigam Tele’es Awards ceremony held in Colombo.

The ‘Can You Hear Me?’ team had undergone self-quarantine in a hotel in Bandarawela where they were shooting their newest schedule after the awards ceremony. The team also comprises popular actress Shalani Tharaka who won the Best Actress and Most Popular actress awards at the recent Raigam Awards ceremony.

This is now being telecast on a state television channel. We can’t stop it abruptly. We must resume shooting but before that we need to overcome the serious anxiety and mental stress

Director Sunil Costa told Daily Mirror Life Impulse that they returned to Bandarawela for a fresh shooting schedule of ‘Can You Hear Me’ and none among them wanted to evade the Western province curfew in force then. He said they had relevant documents from the authorities and also from Rupavahini endorsing the shooting project.
“On the first day we went ahead with the shooting in a home at Bandarawela which is the story’s main location. We never went out. We never violated any health guidelines laid out by the government with regard to shooting of films and tele dramas. But while we were shooting in the morning we were told by the police that we needed to stop it immediately as the people in the vicinity had objected. This is the location where we worked earlier too. The people here were so cooperative as we just focused on our work without being a hindrance to anyone. The same evening PHI officers came to our location and asked us to go back to our hotel where we were lodged. We paused our shooting accordingly.  Then they said we had to undergo 14-days self-quarantine. We had to oblige as responsible citizens of this country. The next day our team was subjected to PCR tests and none of us tested positive,” said director Sunil Costa.

“When the PHI officers came to our hotel asking us to undergo the self quarantine process, an unidentified civilian was among them. He had unethically shot the scenarios on his phone. Not stopping at that, he had even secretly videoed footage of our main actress Shalani Tharaka’s room and uploaded them on social media. What an unethical thing to do? How immoral is it to enter the room of a female, leave alone an actress, and share them on social media platforms? What protection do ordinary people have against such arbitrary and degrading behaviour? We don’t know who had brought this person to our hotel?”

“We have always focused on quality and wholesome tele drama productions which have been embraced by the masses in addition to winning national awards. Such wholesome entertainment is the only solace for the people who are obliged to be indoors following restrictions and curfews imposed by the government to stem the spread of Covid-19 virus,” he said.

“Our tele drama is now being telecast on a state television channel. We can’t stop it abruptly. We must resume shooting but before that we need to overcome the serious anxiety and mental stress triggered by this ordeal. We are back in our homes and we just need to relax now. Please ensure that no artistes are not made to suffer in this manner. This is my earnest plea to the relevant authorities. Can You Hear Me?,” asked directed Sunil Costa.
We too indeed feel that a fresh film / tele drama shooting protocol outlining clear details must be drafted to protect our entertainment industries.

A clear, safe and fair ‘return to work’ guideline for the country’s entertainment sector must be drawn up by the authorities for the benefit of tens of thousands of people who are solely dependent on this industry, without burdening the government.

Text: Ramesh Uvais