Pupuu's Diary...

Versatile actor Pubudu Chathuranga on his upcoming projects:



That’s Pubudu Chathuraga for you. The young actor has the skills to leave a lasting impact on the audience’s mind whether he plays the lead role in a production or takes on the supporting role. He had often proved that he can outshine the hero when he is put in the shoes of the hero, negative role or the role of the protagonist’s friend.
He recently played a key role in Challenges. The movie is queuing to hit the EAP circuit soon and sees Pubudu uniting with his mentor, Udayakantha Warnasuriya who introduced him to cinema through his 2005 movie Hiripoda Vessa.
“We have been keeping contact from time to time and I contributed to his last movie Paya Enna Hiru Se. However it is after some time that I have been given a role that needs much dedication,” he said.
Portraying Ranuk’s role had been a challenge indeed for Pubudu had followed a special diet and engage in exercises to lose 10 kilos to fit into the 19-year-old’s image.
“I take the roles as separate personalities. Every person embodies positive and negative traits. I expand on the main qualities of the character which makes him a lovable or hated character to others. For instance though Denuka in the tele series Sara embodies negative traits, people were also eager to see what kind of mischief he would get involved in next. We move through several character ranges.
I try to present mine in a way that will trigger the audience’s curiosity,” he said adding that he works on trying to give his best to each and every role so that each of them will live on and be talked about amid the fans for years. No doubt this policy was his success formula for many recall his contribution to productions like Tharuka Mal, Machan, Dancing Star, Suwanda Danuna Jeevithe and Kanyavi.
“An actor is a model of humanness. He gives life to different personalities. He needs to embody knowledge on acting to excel in this subject. He needs to address the character through mind and heart. You need to know the subject as well as have some experience,” he opined.
Queried if an actor adapts to a role if her plays it for many years for a lengthy teledrama Pubudu says that one of the prime features that an actor should embody is flexibility. For him understanding the character’s mindset is what matters.
“You need to build a structure for each role. I was shooting for Sara, Gajamuthu and Lokkaiya during the same period. My characters were very different from each other.”
Pubudu ventured into script writing with G Nandasena’s Sara. The movie had given Denuka’s character a whole new look from that of the teledrama.
“The audience should not link the movie with the teledrama. Films provide a different kind of entertainment from teledramas. There was originally another character in the script but we were unable to give life to it for various reasons. Therefore I had to perform that character’s deed through my role. However note that the sympathy and love of the audience still lies with Jeewa,” he said.
Pubudu’s aim is to continue his studies in the acting stream and breathing life to many more eye catching roles. He does not like to step into directing as he believes that he has more to learn before taking on such a demanding responsibility.
Two of his movies Sinhavalokanaya and Super Six have completed shooting and will be screened next year.

Ruwini Jayawardana On Daily News Monday, 29 November 2010