The making of Navarathna Gamage

Pics by Chandana Wijesinghe

Some people know what they want to do as early as when they are kids. Yet some of them have to abandon their childhood dreams when they see they cannot win life by traveling along those chosen paths. They will also remember what they dreamt of, what they wanted to become. When they receive an opportunity, they will not hesitate to fulfill their dreams and achieve what they really wanted. Veteran musician Navarathna Gamage, who is fondly known as Nava in the field, is one such person who received the opportunity to fulfill his childhood dream quite late. Despite the odds he fully realized his dreams. His music career is one of the best examples to prove the idiom ‘better late than never’.

Gamage was born and raised in Gangodawila, Nugegoda. Although this place is packed with motor spare part shops and tall fat buildings, he recalled how beautiful the village was, when he was a child and how he was influenced by the intellectuals there. He specifically mentioned Nugegoda Sumanasara Dharma Vidyalaya and Subadrarama Pirivena.  “I did not come from a rich family, but my family was rich in family values. My dharma School and Balika Niwasa nearby were the main places in the village which enriched the village with cultural values. Balika Niwasa is the place where I watched a movie, Ranwan Karal for the first time. All this influenced me to become what I am today,” he recalled.  He said that the village environment made him curious about art and literature, especially music during his childhood. “Noorthi, Sokari and Vesak drama led the cultural events in the village. These events laid the foundation for my journey,” he said. He also recalled how he was appreciated as a school singer as well as the leading singer of the dharma school. 

Although young Gamage was curious about art, culture and literature, he had to pursue a professional career in a technical field. He was selected to the Colombo Commercial Engineers Company to study Engineering. “I was the eldest in the family and I didn’t have plans to pursue a carrier in the music field. I was only a fan of art and literature,” he said. Yet, when he started traveling daily to Colombo he started to meet young enthusiasts like him, who aroused his old curiosity about aesthetics. “I was a knowledge seeker at the village library, Chandra Pradeepa Library. Later I found this at the Colombo Public Library. I met people like me there, who were interested in arts, society, culture as well as politics. These new people reminded me about my old interests,” he recollected.  

During that time Gamage was economically independent as a youth and he realized that he could now follow his interests and chose music to satisfy his curiosity. His disapamok was maestro B Victor Perera. He started making his contributions to the theater during the same period. The first stage play he contributed towards as a singer was Reginald Jayamanne’s Vikal Samayama in 1986.  Deepthi Kumara Gunaratne’s drama Niruwatha in 1987 was the first time Gamage directed music for a stage play. 

Prof Ediriweera Sarachchandra staged Maname in 1956 for the first time. Twenty years later, Gamage received the opportunity to become a member of Maname team. “I was selected as a B grade Nadagam singer at Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. And I was lucky enough that I got to speak to Prof. Sarachchandra. When he asked me to come and join the drama group, I was more than surprised. I worked with them for over eight years,” he reminisced.  He was also a member of the dramas Mahasaara, Lomahansa, Bawakadathurawa and Pematho. 

He believes that the opportunities he received to become a background vocalist in Nanda Malini’s Sathyaye Geethaya show and to join Somalatha Subasingha’s workshops as important events in his life. In 1996, he was certain that he had to abandon the professional career and become a fulltime musician. He stated to receive invitations to create music for stage dramas, teledramas and films. In less than two decades Gamage was able to reach the top in the Sri Lankan music field. He also mentioned that meeting Yasanath Dhammika Bandara was another milestone in his journey. “He invited me to compose music for four of his songs, including Gana thel sandun waralasa, Walakulu pelin basinna and Suwanda mal. I couldn’t believe when those songs became hits and I started getting the attention of the media,” he said.

Gamage continuously received invitations from the television channels to compose music for programs as well as from teledrama directors and singers to compose melodies. Gamage’s next milestone was when he was asked to direct music for cinema. “My first invitation for a film music direction was Inoka Sathyanganee’s Sulang Kirilli. Simultaneously, I received invitations for four more films including Pura Sakmana

Sudu Kaluwara and Sathkampa,” he mentioned. “It was a challenge to receive so many at that time. But I faced my challenges,” he added. So far, he has directed music for over 200 teledramas.

Although he chose music as his field of profession later in life, he was able to climb the ladder from the first step. He said that he finds producing music for a theater play far more challenging than others. “Theater is live and we also have to travel across the country with the same theater production. There can be no difference in music in the play, when it is played in Colombo and when in Mahiyanganaya.  Or else the aesthetic feeling and maybe, even the story expressions will be completely different from the original,” he noted. He explained that when the music is produced inside a studio how well it can be prepared and redone, if a mistake is made. “Studio music can be presented as a fine final copy where as stage music will have variations from one show to the other,” he added. Gamage has produced and directed music for 50 theater productions. 

The popular Sinhala song is limited to only a few old songs of stage dramas. Although there are many new stage plays, those new songs don’t seem to receive much attention of the fans unlike teledrama and cinema. Gamage pointed out that this has happened because of the lack of interest of the local radio channels. “Earlier, the SLBC used to promote these songs. Their culture was such because there were people from various fields gathering at the SLBC. Here people had the opportunity to produce ideas freely,” he said. According to him, this unfortunate situation, where stage songs don’t get the necessary attention occurred when these free productions stopped and private music production houses were established. He lamented that even though there are a large number of radio channels in the country, none of these are interested in recording and preserving new stage drama songs.

With the experience he has gained ranging from working with Prof Sarachchandra’s generation to today’s reality shows, he said that the new trend of reality shows can be seen as a positive reinforcement for the new generation. “Unlike the earlier generations the number of enthusiasts is high now. I, myself have directed these newcomers to higher education in music,” he said. “But the problem is that the new generation gives up quickly. They kill their enthusiasm with their own hands,” he emphasized. “They have enough resources if they want to move forward and become successful. They just need the courage older generations had,” he emphasized.

 Gamage shares his years of knowledge and experiences with the younger generation by undertaking teaching assignments at aesthetic educational institution like Sri Palee Campus and Belwood Music Institute of the National Youth Council. He believes that a music student should not be limited to a specific style. According to him, a student must study different styles and choose what is best suited for him. He even agreed on fusion of music in different styles. “I always tried to include as many styles as possible to the syllabus when I was in charge of the academic syllabuses. This helps to mould a good musician as well as help the person to identify the possibilities, become more aware of the depths he or she could travel,” he opined.

During the last two decades, where Gamage found the depth he could traverse to, he won many awards and was appreciated for his contributions to the field. “Looking back, I can be satisfied with the attention and appreciations I receive.  There were times when I didn’t receive appreciations when I was expecting. But it wasn’t heartbreaking,” he said. “I like the attention I receive. I believe those appreciations made me travel this far. But I have never composed music expecting to receive an award,” he said. So far, he has received awards and been recognized on more than 50 occasions. “I think, I have received almost every award a Sri Lankan musician can win, including Sarasavi award, Presidential award, Raigam, Sumathi and awards in state drama festivals,” he said adding that he believes those awards were the way of paying justice to all his hard work.

Gamage’s latest production Panamura Kunchanadaya opera will be held at Nelum Pokuna Theater on May 30 and 31. He said that this event is an outcome of three years of comprehensive research in music and the tragic story of Panamure Tusker. “I won’t call Panamura Kunchanadaya as an opera or as a symphony. It is a fusion of all these from the knowledge I gained from the theater,” he iterated. “This is the result of his research and it is musical and theatrical interpretation of rhythmic and universal balance between forest, nature and history of human civilization. This would show the man who evolved from the forest, pointing his gun back at the forest,” he added.

He explained how Panamura Kunchanadaya became a major theater production. “Few years back, I was invited to compose music for the theme song of the Panamure Elephant Museum opening by SP Saman Ratnayake. Ratnayake’s knowledge was so rich that he enlightened me on this incident. I had to travel there frequently. I saw the place myself and I did my own research observing the environment and talking to people,” he said. “I saw how the civilization was initiated within the forest and how it has now come out of it.  I wrote down what I saw into a script,” he explained how the event was his brainchild.

He also said that he and his team continued to complete this project facing many untold troubles. Financial issues are only one aspect of it. “There are over 200 people in the Panamure team. Their needs should be taken care of when they are working for this. It was very difficult to seek funds for such a large group. There were times when I felt frustrated in being unable to raise the necessary funds,” he said. “It was very hard to explain what this is to the potential sponsors. Many didn’t understand what we were trying to say. But we continued till the end with these difficulties,” he iterated.  He reiterated why they couldn’t abandon the production considering the financial limitations. “This will be a new experience for everyone. A mother who sees this would want her child to see this and learn what this is. I know this will be a revolution regarding theater. So how am I to abandon this?” he queried, with loads of hope.