Discover Sri Lanka on Channel Eye

Discover Sri Lanka on Channel Eye

Colombo: Discover Sri Lanka a brand new television series in English, produced by the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation will make its debut on October 21 at 10 p.m on Channel EYE.

The programme aims to take the viewer on a journey, to discover the marvels that make Sri Lanka a paradise island.

The theme and incidental music tracks have been composed exclusively for 'Discover Sri Lanka' by maestro Neranjan de Silva and performed by Ravibandu Vidyapathi-Oriental drums and Neranjan de Silva- Keyboards.

The first programme in the series will feature one of Sri Lanka's wildlife wonders which defies conventional wisdom - 'The Gathering', regarded as the most spectacular event in the international wildlife calendar.

Nowhere else in the world will one find such a huge gathering of wild Asian elephants concentrated within a few square kilometres of land. Join Srilal Miththapala a fervent elephant enthusiast and Sharmini Serasinghe, Producer and Director of the series to witness 'The Gathering' on Tuesday, October 21 at 10.00 p.m. on Rupavahini Channel EYE, to find out more about the dynamics of this unique seasonal wildlife event.

Here Come ... RANJEET SINGH with ‘THOUSAND APOLOGIES,

‘THOUSAND APOLOGIES, I AM RANJEET SINGH’

Albert Moses Speaks...

By Sisira Chandrasekera, SLBC UK Correspondent

Many of us still may not know that we can proud of one Sri Lankan who is an internationally renowned film star, TV star, producer, director and a writer in the west. Many of us thought he was an Indian Sikh, because he became popular in the sit com series 'Mind your language' as Ranjeet Singh in the late 70s. When he put the turban on, no one ever knew that he was one of our very own fellow countrymen, from Kandy, the one and only Albert Moses. ('Mind Your Language' series is now available in Colombo on CD and DVD)

In 1981, when I moved from the SLBC to ITN as a Technical Assistant to work in the ITN TV transmitting station at Pannipitiya, I eagerly waited for the Mind Your Language video tape because I wanted to watch the programme before it went on air at 8.00pm on Wednesday nights. I used to watch the tape for at least 4 times before it went on air because it was packed with nothing but 100% British humour.

Every sentence was unique, because you have not heard that humour anywhere else before. The script was written by one of the top comedy writers Vince Powell and produced by Stuart Allen. Later series was produced by Albert Moses himself.

My favourite character was none other than Ranjeet Singh (Albert Moses) and I loved when he started fighting with his classmate Pakistani student Ali Nadim (Dino Shafeek), and his 'Thousand apologies.

In 1981 I thought I must meet this wonderful man one day in person. When I came to London in 1984, I looked for any information about him, where he lived or worked but I did not have success. In 1991 when I went to the City of London Polytechnic (now known as London Metropolitan University)for an interview in their media department, prior to the interview I was given a guided tour by a member of staff.

The guy who took me around told me that this job was previously done by famous actor Albert Moses. My eyes were wide opened and I thought I came to the right place. Unfortunately he had left the job months before I went and staff refused to give me any information about him because of the data protection act that no one can disclose any information about a fellow employee to outsiders. But I did not give up my hopes to meet Albert.

Albert with Kirk Douglas.

In 1998, when I was searching through the web on a search engine, I suddenly found Albert Moses's official webpage on internet. First thing I did was sending an e-mail asking him to contact me as I was desperately looking for him for a TV interview. He was such a down to earth guy, Albert sent me an immediate reply and we started communicating with each other via e-mails. I told him about my connections with the Sri Lankan electronic media and I wanted to make a TV interview for the Rupavahini. Albert very kindly agreed to give me a TV interview free of charge not only that he even agreed to come to my house for the recording.

On a Saturday morning he arrived at Pinner underground station by train, and he waited for me to come and pick him up from there. I was bit late to pick him up so I had to tell him 'Thousand apologies' for my delay. First thing I asked from Albert was how I should call him, whether Mr. Moses, Sir or Albert. He laughed at me and said " Sisira just call me Albert."

It was a fantastic moment in my life to meet the man himself, in front of me whom I have been longing to see in person. My dear friend Tissa Madawela very kindly offered his services to film the TV interview and we started talking about his life and how he started his career as an actor, writer, producer and a director.

Albert Moses was born in Kandy in Sri Lanka. He has worked at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya for a while and then migrated to Africa for employment. After a while he decided to come to England to pursue his studies in theatre and drama in a drama school in London. This was where his career began as an actor for TV and Cinema.

During this period he had seen an advert in the news paper calling any suitable candidates to act as a Sikh in the Mind your language comedy series. He went for the audition and he has done his part better than a native Indian Sikh national.

The producer and director have been very happy about his performances and offered him the role as Ranjeet Singh. Albert had many Indian Sikh friends and he has spent few days with them to learn the culture and the way of their life style, food, how they speak and how they even wear the turban. He still remembers how his Indian friends taught him how to put the turban on his head and he has observed how they shake their heads while talking.

Albert himself showed me how he learnt while I was doing the TV interview. It was so hilarious the way he explained to me how he learnt the typical life style of Sikhs in London East End.

Albert Moses has been involved with film and television industry for over 30 years now starting in India where he appeared in 7 films, ending up producing and directing the 8th one. He then moved on to Africa where he made documentaries for a short while. In the UK, Albert has been involved in a great number of diverse projects, several of which were ventures filmed around the globe.

In his younger days, Albert's specialties as an actor included: fencing, dancing, singing, motor-cycle stunts, karate and judo. He is fluent in English, Arabic, Tamil, Sinhalese, moderate German and Sanskrit. One of Albert's popular themes was playing the double of Clarke Gable.

In a scene from the movie ‘Robe’

He has played in film, television and theatrical productions with many respected actors including: Kirk Douglas, Oliver Reed, Sir John Gielgud, Roger Moore, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Charles Dance, Kenneth Williams, Benny Hill, Tim Piggott Smith, Pamela Stevenson, Diana Rigg and many others.

During his extensive career, he has also worked with many internationally renowned directors including John Landis, John Houston, Rob Cohen and Alan Parker. He did prominent roles in many theatre productions such as Freeway at National Theatre Phædra Britannica with Dame Diana Rigg. Long March to Jerusalem at Watford Theatre are few of the many.

He starred in movies such as The Man Who Would Be King - A John Houston film with Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Christopher Plummer, The Spy Who Loved Me - James Bond Movie with Roger Moore, Stand Up Virgin Soldiers - EMI, Carry On Emmanuelle - as an Indian doctor, The Little Drummer Girl - EMI, The Awakening - Columbia Pictures, An American Werewolf In London - John Landis Movie, The Great Quest - with Oliver Reed, Pink Floyd, The Wall - Alan Parker Film, Octopussy - James Bond Movie (as Saddrudin - undercover British agent in India), Jungle Book II - Walt Disney, East Is East - Channel Four Films, Scandalous - with Sir John Gielguld and Pamela Stevenson.

He became very popular on TV programmes such as Queenie - Hollywood mini-series with Kirk Douglas, On The Buses - London Weekend Television , The Loser - LWT, Certain Lack of Communication - BBC - PLAY OF THE MONTH, The British Empire - BBC Series, Warship - BBC, The Boy Dominic - 3 Episodes - YORKSHIRE TELEVISION, Children of the Sun - BBC - PLAY OF THE MONTH, Bill Brand - 4 Episodes - THAMES TELEVISION, Rogues Rock -2 Episodes - SOUTHERN TELEVISION, Horse In The House - THAMES TELEVISION, Robin's Nest - THAMES TELEVISION, Mind Your Language - LWT sitcom (Nearly fifty episodes broadcast between 1977 and 1979) , Two's Company - LWT, The Fuzz - THAMES TV, The Rag Trade - LWT and recently Holby City - BBC DRAMA and many more.

Although Mind your language series became popular world wide, some UK audiences protested over a racial issue and banned showing the complete series on the British television. Sadly some actors of the series are no longer with us.

The teacher Mr. Jeremy Brown (Barry Evans) was mysteriously murdered some years ago. Swedish student Ingrid Bergman is the daughter of Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman.

Albert loves writing children's stories. He wrote Tales from India, The Hawk and the Turtles, Mustapha Mouse and a Book of Poems containing 87 poems. When I met him he was very kind enough to bring me a set of children's books written by him for my daughter. He also handed over some books for me to be given to Colombo Public Library.

He produced 13 episodes of Mind Your Language and produced and directed Gabriella - Television film on location in Malta. Wrote, produced and directed two thrillers for TV in the Alfred Hitchcock style with a surprise ending, set in Malta called Accidental Death and Revenge.

Wrote the title music as well for both. Also hosted, produced and directed, Song and dance show, Talent Contest, Variety Shows in Malta. Albert is a man of many talents. It is very rare to find a man like him who has a heart of gold, who still loves his motherland Sri Lanka. Although he has been away from Sri Lanka for many years, he still supports many charities in Sri Lanka.

He funds many homes for children in Sri Lanka donating his hard earned money. He still enjoys a plate of Sri Lankan rice and curry than English fish and chips. He has not forgotten his roots.

Albert was recently made a Knight of the Order of St John, in recognition of his charity work for children. He currently lives in the leafy suburbs of Hertfordshire County teaching English, free of charge to Eastern European migrant workers. He spends his money and time for many charities in the UK as well.

He loves to come to Sri Lanka and get involved with making films and TV productions. He told me that he is very much happy to accept any offers by any producers who are willing to seek his services for any productions in Sri Lanka. You may contact him via e-mail at albertmoses@ntlworld.com.

I wish him well, good health and long life. Albert, my dear friend we Sri Lankans are proud of you. You are famous from Hollywood to Hollywood and from East End to West End and on the British TV and world wide. We all wish you more and more courage and strength to make many more productions for our viewing pleasure.

- The Sunday times - LK

"Army TV" soon on air

Army TV soon on air

A Television channel run by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces is on the cards, according to highly placed military sources.
The TV channel, a brainchild of Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will begin telecasting from February 4.
The telecast will initially be limited to two hours, but is expected to be expanded to 24 hours later.
The channel will beam defence, political news, social and cultural feature programs and entertainment programs.
However, the name of the channel has yet to be decided.

.............. LakbimaNews----

Mind Your Language, The Popular TV show, Back on Zee Cafe ,EVERY WEEK DAYS

Mind Your Language, The Popular TV show, Back on Zee Cafe at 7pm and 11 pm !


Mind Your Language is a British comedy television series originally shown on ITV between 1977 and 1979. Produced by LWT and directed by Stuart Allen, it is set in a school for adult students in London, focusing on the English as a Foreign Language class taught by Mr. Jeremy Brown, portrayed Barry Evans, who had to deal with a motley crew of foreigners. A new version of the show with some of the original cast aired in 1986.

The series focuses on the English as a Foreign Language class for adult students in a London school. The classes take place in the early evening, and are taught by Mr. Jeremy Brown (Barry Evans), though on occasion other individuals take over the class if Mr. Brown is not available. The class consists of foreigners with varying degrees of English proficiency, with no two students from the same country (with the exception of Jamilla Ranjha and Ranjeet Singh, who come from two very different regions of India). The humour of the show is derived from the students misunderstanding English words or terms, and plays up to the cultural stereotype of their individual nation of origin.

Season One takes place over a full school year, starting with Mr. Brown being hired by the Headmistress Miss Courtney, and ends with the students sitting for their Lower Cambridge Certificate. Season Two begins at the start of the next school year, with all ten previous students returning after having failed their exam, and two new students joining them, for a total of twelve. The exams were less stressed on as time went by. This was reflected in the show's setting; Season One and Two primarily took place within the classroom, but the later seasons explored settings outside of the school.

More recently the show has been criticised for unimaginative racism and political incorrectness, but in its day the show was popular with people of many backgrounds because of its light-hearted take on multiculturalism and because it gave some otherwise unrepresented minorities a television presence, albeit represented as caricatures.

• Series One (13) 30 December 1977-24 March 1978 · Friday 7p.m.
• Series Two (8) 7 October-25 November 1978 · Saturday mostly 6p.m.
• Series Three (8) 27 October-15 December 1979 · Saturday mostly 6.45p.m.
• Series Four (13) 4 January-15 December 1986

Students **************************

• Giovanni Cupello, portrayed by George Camiller, is an Italian cook as well as the class' loudest student and de-facto class monitor. On the frequent occasions when Mr. Brown is called out of class, Giovanni is the one who takes charge of the class. He is best friends with Max, who is also (eventually) his flatmate. Giovanni's main English problem is understanding metaphors and large words, though he often answers wrongly on purpose to amuse the class. He is attracted to Danielle, though as the series progresses she becomes more like an accomplice rather than an infatuation. Like all those who dwell in London, he picks up slang faster than he does proper language. He is also very emotional and cries every time Mr. Brown leaves or declares he is leaving.

• Anna Schmidt, portrayed by Jacki Harding, is a stereotypical 1970s German and is often portrayed as gruff and stern. In her introduction she refers to "German efficiency", and accordingly Anna is a hardworking student, occasionally asking legitimate questions and as the series progresses, answering Mr. Brown's questions correctly. Her main problem is mixing "V" and "W" sounds.

• Chung Su-Lee, portrayed by Pik-Sen Lim (Season 1 - 3), is a secretary at the Chinese Embassy. She is never seen without her red book of Mao, which she often quotes from, much to Mr. Brown's displeasure. She constantly juxtaposes her "Rs" and "Ls", although her English is arguably the best in the class. Early in the series, she had a fierce ideological rivalry with Taro, her Japanese classmate. Although she is often regarded as fierce, she is kind and thoughtful to her friends.

• Taro Nagazumi, portrayed by Robert Lee (Season 1 - 3) is a Japanese electronics representative. He has a reasonable command of English, but has a habit of adding "-o" to every word he says. He also bows to Mr Brown every time he stands, often resulting in the teacher repeating the gesture and hitting something. Early in the series he is at odds with Su-Lee due to Japan and China's own political differences in the 1970s. He is never seen without his camera and takes pictures of people for money. His classic reply is the Japanese "ah so?" (really?).

• Jamila Ranjha, portrayed by Jamila Massey (Season 1 - 3), is an Indian housewife from Bombay. When she first joins the class she can barely speak English, and needs Ali to translate her Hindi. She improves significantly as time goes on, but frequently returns to speaking in Hindi when it suits her. She is constantly knitting cardigans, though she is rarely seen wearing them. She does not participate in the Ali-Ranjeet feud as she is a Christian.

• Maximillian A.A. Papandrios, portrayed by Kevork Malikyan (Season 1 - 3), is a Greek shipping office worker, and is often paired with Giovanni. He is attracted to Danielle but as the show progresses the three became a gang of sorts. His personality is almost identical to Giovanni and the two rarely fight in the series, except over girls and, once, over ethnic slurs. Like many of his classmates, Max tends to misunderstand metaphors and large words. He also has heavy accent, which causes him to add "H" to almost every word he says.

• Juan Cervantes, Ricardo Montez, is a Spanish bartender with an optimistic streak. Juan is always laughing at himself, and is always confident of his answers even when they are completely wrong. Early in the series Juan spoke almost no English, and answered everything with "por favor" (please), necessitating Giovanni to translate some key terms for him. Juan's English improved as the series went on. He cares a great deal for Mr. Brown, whom he considers almost family.

• Ranjeet Singh, portrayed by Albert Moses, is a Tube worker from Punjab in India and a very devoted Sikh. He constantly argues with Ali, who is a Pakistani Muslim. He tends to mix up his general knowledge, and upon being corrected he always puts his hands together for "a thousand apologies". He carries a kirpan, with which he has threatened to assassinate anyone from Ali to Mr. Jarvis the woodwork teacher.

• Danielle Favre, portrayed by Francoise Pascal (Season 1 - 3), is an amorous French au pair who instantly grabs the attention of all men, including Mr. Brown. Her good looks often distract Giovanni and Max from their answers, while Mr. Brown is often found in seemingly incriminating positions with her. She is annoyed when Ingrid Svenson joins the class, instigating a rivalry for Mr. Brown's attention. She is a good friend to fellow au pair Anna and the two often spend their weekends together. Owing to her job, her spoken English is acceptable and her general knowledge fair, though her main problems lay in grammar theory.

• Ali Nadim, portrayed by Dino Shafeek (Season 1 - 3), is one of the first students that Mr. Brown meets at the school. He is originally from Lahore, Pakistan. Never seen without his Jinnah hat, he is the most vocal of the students and often literally misinterprets everything said by others. As a Pakistani Muslim he has a vocal and occasionally physical rivalry with Ranjeet, who is a Sikh (Indian). By the middle of Season 2, although they continue to argue, Ali's rivalry with Ranjeet becomes less malicious, and they are on occasion able to work together without complaint.

• Ingrid Svenson, portrayed by Anna Bergman (Season 2 and 4), is a Swedish au pair who joins the class at the beginning of Season 2. She is attractive and straightforward about her attraction Mr. Brown, sparking a rivalry between her and Danielle. She transfers schools at the end of Season 2, but returns in the independently produced Season 4.

• Zoltán Szabó, portrayed by Gabor Vernon (Season 2), is a Hungarian student who only appears during Season 2. He has a very basic level of English and requires a phrasebook for everything. He picks up slang quickly, most of which comes from Giovanni and Juan. Zoltán is a romantic at heart, and enjoys singing sad Hungarian ballads.

• In the fourth season, Mr. Brown and Miss Courtney were still at the school, as were Anna, Giovanni, Ingrid, Juan and Ranjeet. New students included Maria Papandrious, portrayed by Jenny Lee-Wright, Michelle Dumas (Marie-Elise Grepne), Farrukh Azzam (Raj Patel), and Fu Wong Chang (Vincent Wong).

Mind Your Language was a British comedy series originally shown on ITV, between 1977 and 1979. Produced by LWT, it was set in a language school in London, with the late Barry Evans as the embattled night school English language teacher for a motley crew of assorted foreigners.

The series was known for its humorous take on national stereotypes: the German woman was dour and humourless; the French woman was sexy and flirtatious; the Swedish woman was liberated and straightforwardly sex-mad; the Chinese woman a rampant Maoist; while the Sikh and Pakistani men were often on the brink of war, and the Spaniard, the Greek and the Italian were macho. Much of the humour also stemmed from the trouble the students had with the English language, their often outrageous speech patterns and the students' hilarious mispronunciations of English. In the politically correct days of the late 1990s the show was criticised, but in its day the show was popular with people of many backgrounds because of its light-hearted take on multiculturalism and because it gave some otherwise unrepresented minorities a television presence.


Memorable Phrases:*******************

Ali Nadim (Pakistani) : "Squeeze me please!", "Oh Blimey!", "Jolly Good","U damn fool!"

Giovanni Cupello (Italian) : "Santa Maria!", "Holy Ravioli!"

Maximillian Papandrious (Greek) : "Hokay!"

Jamila Rahjha (Indian) : "God heavening!"

Deloris Courtney (the prim-and-proper English headmistress) : "MISS Courtney, if you don't mind."

Ranjeet Singh (Punjabi - A Sri Lankan acted as Indian) : "A thousand apologies."

Chung Su-Lee (Chinese) : "Chairman Mao, he says..." "The Democlatic Lepublic Of China", "...peace-roving Chinese!"

Taro Nagazumi (Japanese) : "Ah-so" (proceeds forward and bows)

Juan Cervantes (Spanish) : "Por favor?","s'awright", "One fate/fete/fit, Two fate/fete/fit!"

Zoltan Szabo (Hungarian) : "Bocsánat?"

Anna Schmidt (German) : "Wery Good!"

Gladys the tea lady (English) : "Her ladyship wants to see you"

Jeremy Brown (English) : "Is the old dragon in?"

Sid the caretaker (English) : "You sure you got the right cucumber?"

	Barry Evans	...	Jeremy Brown (20 episodes, 1977-1978)
	George Camiller	...	Giovanni Capello / ... (20 episodes, 1977-1978)
	Jacki Harding	...	Anna Schmidt (20 episodes, 1977-1978)
	Robert Lee	...	Taro Nagazumi (20 episodes, 1977-1979)
	Kevork Malikyan	...	Maximillian Papandrious / ... (20 episodes, 1977-1979)
	Zara Nutley	...	Miss Courtney (20 episodes, 1977-1978)
	Jamila Massey	...	Jamila Ranjha / ... (20 episodes, 1977-1979)
	Ricardo Montez	...	Juan Cervantes (20 episodes, 1977-1978)
	Albert Moses	...	Ranjeet Singh (20 episodes, 1977-1978)
	Françoise Pascal	...	Danielle Favre / ... (20 episodes, 1977-1979)
	Dino Shafeek	...	Ali Nadim / ... (20 episodes, 1977-1979)
	Pik Sen Lim	...	Chung Su-Lee / ... (19 episodes, 1977-1979)
	Iris Sadler	...	Gladys / ... (14 episodes, 1977-1979)
	Tommy Godfrey	...	Sid (12 episodes, 1977-1979)
	Anna Bergman	...	Ingrid Svenson (7 episodes, 1978)
	Gabor Vernon	...	Zoltan Szabo / ... (7 episodes, 1978)

Don't Miss Is !

Sources : Wikipedia
Indianceleb.com
Imdb.com

The Season Finale of Koffee with Karan at 9 p.m. on Star World ; Dont miss the Koffee Awards 2007 this week

Dont miss the Koffee Awards 2007 this week
Expect the unexpected, this Sunday, September 16th on the Season Finale of Koffee with Karan at 9 p.m. only on Star World and Star One



“John Abraham is expressionless” – Kareena Kapoor

“‘I suffer from this psychological clinical disorder called Superiority Complex”- Mallika Sherawat

“Boyfriends come, boyfriends go, but Nagarjuna remains” – Tabu

“Jo cheesein God nahi deta, woh Doctor deta hai” – Rakhi Sawant

“It’s Kareena’s choice if she wants to keep distance, I am not pouncing on her”- Priyanka Chopra

“Other male singers may have been jealous because they felt they are more talented than me” – Himesh Reshammiya

‘If I woke up one morning and found out that I’ve turned into Aamir Khan, I would tell the world that Shah Rukh is the better actor!’- Shah Rukh

… Some of the most CANDID CONFESSIONS!!!

ALL OVER A CUP OF COFFEE …


But, who was the spiciest of them all? The most glamorous? The best moment of the season? Wackiest line of the season?

KOFFEE AWARDS 2007 will decide!

MAKE SURE YOU BLOCK YOUR TIME FOR THE KOFFEE AWARDS 2007!!

Expect the unexpected, this Sunday, September 16th on the Season Finale of Koffee with Karan at 9 p.m. only on Star World and Star One.

Karan sure takes his koffee very seriously... Serves it piping hot and enjoys its aroma just as much everyone has... and now as the Season of his show ‘Koffee with Karan’ heads for a Season Finale, he has come up with an idea which is totally unusual... something no entertainment company, no entertainment channel, no publication house, no event company, has ever done... have an AWARD! Karan is very proud to present the Koffee Awards 2007! And yes, there is a super talented and very good-looking jury… fashion legend Rohit Bal, yummy mummy Malaika Arora and the funny man Cyrus Broacha will decide the winners!

Make sure you catch “Koffee Awards 2007” this Sunday, September 16th exclusively on Star One and Star World at 9 p.m.


Author Srividya Rajesh
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