Prasanna
Vithanage is one of Sri Lanka's most notable filmmakers.
His films have won many awards, both local and
international. Recent releases like 'Sooriya Arana', 'Samanala
thatu', and 'Hiripoda wessa' have attracted Sri Lankans to
cinemas. Sri Lankan films are usually in the Sinhalese
language. Tamil language movies are also filmed in Sri
Lanka but they are part of Kollywood which is Indian Tamil
cinema. It is also known as Sri Lankan Tamil cinema in Sri
Lanka. However some Kollywood films are based in Sri Lanka
as well.
Music
Main
article: Music of Sri Lanka
The
earliest music came from the theatre at a time when the
traditional open-air drama (referred to in Sinhala as Kolam,
and Nadagam). In 1903 the first music album, Nurthi,
was released through Radio Ceylon. Also Vernon Corea
introduced Sri Lankan music in the English Service of
Radio Ceylon.
In the
early 1960s, Indian music in films greatly influenced Sri
Lankan music and later Sri Lankan stars like Sunil Shantha
found greater popularity among Indian people. By 1963,
Radio Ceylon had more Indian listeners than Sri Lankan
ones. The notable songwriters Mahagama Sekara and Ananda
Samarakoon made a Sri Lankan music revolution. At the peak
of this revolution, musicians such as W. D. Amaradeva,
H.R. Jothipala, Milton Mallawarachchi, M.S. Fernando,
Annesley Malewana and Clarence Wijewardene did great work.
A very
popular type of music is the so-called Baila, a kind of
dance music that originated from Portuguese music
introduced to the island in colonial times
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