Veteran film technician ‘Karu’ felicitated

Veteran film technician Karunadasa Pathirathna was awarded the Kalabhimani title recently at an event held at the Colombo District Secretariat in recognition of his valued contribution to the Sinhala cinema industry.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, Pathirathna who is fondly known as ‘Sound Karu’ in film circles, has worked in more than 250 local and international film productions.

Having started his film career at Cinemas Ltd. under the late K. Gunaratnam, Karu had worked with almost all prominent directors, actors, actresses and crew members, earning an honorable name for himself for his hardwork, dedication, commitment and integrity.

Karu said he began his film journey in a meaningful way after he met veteran cinematographer Andrew Jayamanne who introduced him to Lal Dissanayake of Dissanayake Films. Later this bond paved the way for him to work in several movies directed by Titus Totawatte.

He has worked with veteran filmmakers including Dr. Lester James Peries, Titus Totawatte, K. A. W. Perera, Chandran Rutnam, Gamini Fonseka, Lenin Moraes, Vasantha Obeysekara, Neil Rupasinghe, Gamini Fonseka, Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne, Nimal Weerakkody, Tissa Abeysekara, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Dr. Somarathne Dissanayake and several others. He had also worked with actors and actresses of all shapes and sizes including Gamini Fonseka, Vijaya Kumaratunga, Malani Fonseka, Sriyani Amarasena, Swarna Mallawaarachchi, Nita Fernando to Pooja Umashankar and Niranjani Shanmugarajah.

Pathirathna who is fondly known as ‘Sound Karu’ in film circles, has worked in more than 250 local and international film productions

He had also worked with several international filmmakers including Spielberg.

“The secret of my long and illustrious career must be attributed to my commitment, honesty and ability to earn the goodwill of everyone I worked with. I last worked in Dr. Somaratne Dissanayake’s film project ‘Tsunami’,” he said.
Among the noteworthy movies he had worked in were Wekande Walawwa, Bambaru Ewith, Ammawarune, Dadayama, Walmathwuwo, Koti Waligaya, Sarungale, Paththini, Hitha Mithura, Sathweni Dawasa, Hara Lakshe and hundreds of others.

His son Dhammika Pathiratne is also a well-known film still photographer who has served for more than three decades in the movie industry. 

Text: Ramesh