TV Times

TV Times

‘Hit Wicket’: An obsession with cricket
By Susitha R. Fernando
'Hit Wicket' which is being telecast every Tuesday at 8.30pm on Rupavahini completed few episodes receiving huge acclamation and applause.

At a time when many Indian dubbed teledramas are gaining popularity on the mini screen it is laudable that Chandana Hewapathirana has overcome many difficulties to produce an adequate teledrama to suit Sri Lankan audience.

The Sri Lankan audience should be appreciative of this effort to compete with the Indian soap dramas that are produced with the international market in mind.

The theme discusses obsession of an individual for cricket. Sirimewan is a government employee. His wife is Sarojini. They have a son and a daughter- Sandun and Madhuri. Sirimewan is addicted to cricket. Cricket for him is life. When there is a match Sirimewan pleads ill health and stays at home. If he has to be in office he will play truant and watch cricket at a friend's house. As a result of this we see the many conflicts he has to face and he even has to be hospitalized due to his addiction for cricket. Sirimewan's dream is to make his son a cricketer. Although Sandun is not a talented player Sirimewan gets the coach to include him in the team. To cover his expenses to make his son a cricketer Sirimewan resorts to taking bribes at his office. This is a story of a man with an obsession and is the story of many of us.

Director's cut
Chandana Hewapathirana an award winning screenplay writer who joined the miniscreen with 'Hirubara Tharuwa', one of the series of minfilms directed by Prasanna Vithanage for Swarnavahini channel. He has a number of popular one episode plays like 'Rankiri' and 'Sellang Thuwakkuwa', 'Adbutha Lampuwa' and 'Sabaha Awuruddha' to his credit.

Chandana displayed his talent as director in the series of hilarious drama series 'Three Wheel Malli' telecast on Rupavahini. Chandana won the first place at the teledrama script competition conducted by the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation in 1995.

His screenplay for the miniplay 'www.com' was one of the three nominations at Sumathi Tele Awrad Festival in 2004. His film script titled 'Heta Dasawa' was approved for the loan scheme provided by National Film Corporation in 2001.

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