Sri Lanka, Oct. 8 -- Two great filmmakers emerged from Sri Lanka and India three-quarters of a century ago - Lester James Peries and Sathyajit Ray. Both had a great deal in common, culturally speaking, and the first features they made, establishing them as masters of cinema, paid homage to rural cultures, folklore and identities, though both came from urban, westernised backgrounds.

Sathyajith Ray (1921-1992) was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. Lester James Peiries (1919-2018) was born in Dehiwela, suburban Colombo, when both India and Sri Lanka were British colonies. Ray worked in Britain as a young man (in advertising), and the young Lester met renowned British documentary filmmaker Basil Wright (creator of the classic documenta...