Now showing: Nihalsingha’s Welikathara in digital format
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Joe Abeywickrema as Goring Mudalali and Suvineetha Weerasinghe as the ASP’s wife
The first Sinhala film in cinemascope directed by D.B. Nihalsingha- ‘Welikathara’ –which created a sensation when it was screened 46 years ago, in 1971, is now being shown in cinemas for a limited period. ‘Welikathara’ was selected as one of the best Sinhala films from among over 843 films screened during the first 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema (1947-97).
Nihalsingha had begun the process of converting it into digital format at the time of his unexpected demise.
Venturing into feature films, soon after he handled the camera and edited ‘Sath Samudura’ (released in 1967) Nihalsingha picked Tissa Abeysekera, who had done the dialogue for Lester James Peries’ films ‘Gamperaliya’ and ‘Delovak Athara’, to write the screenplay and dialogue for the film. While being co-producer, he handled the camera, directed and edited the film. Somadasa Elvitigala whose music score in ‘Sath Samudura’ had won praise, was to handle the music.
Nihalsinghe picked Gamini Fonseka and Suvineetha Weerasinghe as ASP Randeniya and his wife, and as Goring Mudalali, the smuggler, he chose Joe Abeywickrema who had till then been mainly cast in ‘light’ comic roles. His role here was a challenging one –that of an innocent villager (Sudu Banda) who turns into a ruthless racketeer, making money and escaping the law, forced by circumstances to take revenge on the ASP. He was, in fact, a dual personality, a man with a big heart depending on the situation.
Gamini Fonseka as ASP Randeniya
At the time the film was being shot, Joe admitted that it was his most challenging role to date. He was confident he could deliver and he did. ‘Welikathara’turned out to be a landmark film for him cementing him as an actor
who could play any character. Gamini and Suvineetha being equally good, the trio dominated the story. The supporting cast with Devika Karunaratne, Kithsiri Perera, Navanandana Wijesinghe, Piyasena Ahangama, G. W. Surendra and Buddhi Wickrema added their bit to make it a memorable film. For most film fans seeing their acting will also be a novel experience since they are no longer on the scene.
The film being shot in cinemascope Nihalsingha selected the sand dunes of Point Pedro for maximum effect. The location was ideal for the dramatic scenes giving filmgoers the thrills they expected.
“An action film that bespeaks the author’s technical mastery as well as his bold effort to exploit the resources of cinema”, was how Nihalsingha’s effort has been described in ‘Profiling Sri Lankan Cinema’ (Wimal Dissanayake/Ratnavibhushana 2000).
Describing Nihalsingha as one who “modernised and liberated the camera (his hand-held style) giving it an almost independent status and dignity it had never enjoyed before”, Gamini Hattottuwegama had this to say about‘Welikathara’,: “With intimate and haunting and nostalgic flashbacks trapping a secret inner drama and sweeping especially for a tense melodrama staged in a vast outdoor setting, showed how well he had grasped the romance-realism equation.”
- D.C. Ranatunge