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| Wednesday, 17 March 2004 |
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Diya Yata Gindara : Fast moving thriller by E.M.G. Edirisinghe Flames of retribution blaze beneath the moisture of compassion. That is Diya Yata Gindara (Flames beneath water). Udaya Kantha Warnasooriya transcending structural and visionary barriers boldly journeys from one phase to another with each film he makes. The latest to join his repository is fast-paced, heavily loaded and divergent. He always steadies his cinematic works with fresh fibre woven with unusual vigour. Diya Yata Gindara is not different from this assertive format.
Diya Yata Gindara is a change from his earlier works like Rajya Sevaya Pinisay, Bhahu Bharya, Gini Avi Saha Gini Keli and Yakada Pihatu. He turns a new page in his career both in terms of underling theme and cinematic content with elements required for a detective story drawn from social, economic and political sources. In this film, he confronts the statutory law with moral law and poses the question which of the two options is of greater relevance when one is emotionally compelled to respect the moral law or when one is required to adhere to the statutory law in force. In the eyes of man what matters most is what one's instinct and moral obligation impel one to follow within an atmosphere of social obligations. Based on a sensational true story that shook the business community, not because of the driver of the vehicle was burnt to death, but the manner in which the plan was conceived and executed to cheat the insurance company to make a claim for a huge sum of money to meet the medical expenses of one's only child. The filmmaker has stretched this single incident to develop it into a feature film that appeals to a multi-dimensional audience. Complaint Udayakantha opens the film with Sampath's wife making a complaint to the Police that her husband was missing. A burnt car was found in the jungle with its driver 'burnt' to a skeleton. This discovery within minutes of the start of the film compels the filmmaker to unfold the narrative mostly in flashbacks which forms the mainstay of the film. In his usual mode of making cinema a form of popular absorption with a high degree of entertainment value, Udyakantha makes the film to unroll in gasps with air being breathed into the gaps to heave a breath while moving from the present to the past and back to the present. Flashbacks play a vital role in knitting the story together which makes it complete and comprehensive. This he does with great alacrity which we have witnessed in his earlier films as well. The challenge for the filmmaker to maintain the tempo set off by Madara (Achala Alles) calling at the Police station was successfully met. In his approach to his novel format, he does not confine himself to a stereo-type frame and is bold enough to try a new vision with a fresh mould of structural and visual form. He is always innovative in his effort to capture the imagination of his audience who are familiar with the characteristics of his works. Unusual The story-line takes in a fresh breath with an unusual turn to man's desire to realise morally acceptable goals through socially and legally unacceptable means. Every character involved in the well-conceived plot to defraud and cheat the insurance company, did so only to do a thing like either to treat the sick child, to get a good school for the child or to give the sister in marriage etc. All these intentions by themselves are morally and socially justifiable. But, the means used to realise them are corrupt and illegal. Anything that arises from a vitiated sources too, is vitiated. The filmmaker's intention to add a new dimension to ameliorate social and individual ills by harnessing the concept to justify the crimes on the basis that the end justifies the means irrespective of the law taking a different stand independent of the extension of sympathy for the wrong-doer who is charged with commission of an offence. Most central to the film is the discovery of the skeletal remains of the 'dead driver' as that of a woman which threw the entire process of investigation in a different direction. However, this vital element should have been withheld from the audience up to the end and utilised to keep them in suspense, and retained the dramatic quantity undisturbed. It could have realised a greater spectator appeal being able to enliven their probing mind. Discovery Its very early discovery and disclosure to the audience robbed them of the suspense, tension and the dramatic content in the film. A crime that looked a total mystery was found sealed with the early arrest of the mastermind Sampath (Sanath Gunatilleka). The arrest of the rest who acted as his accolades turned out to be a foregone conclusion. Essentially a fast moving thriller which could entrap any responsive audience who could enjoy the element of sustained anxiety in cinema. Udyakantha's style of filmmaking demanded him to keep changing his frontiers to take the film goer to a new experience at a different level and tenor. The credits Cast : Sanath Gunatillake, Achala Alles, Tony Ranasinghe, Srimal Sathyajith Vedisinghe, Amarsiri Kalansuriya, Srinath Maddumage, Janesh Silva, Nirosha Herath, Tyronne Michael, Adhika Rambukwella, Sumitta Kularatne, Jeevan Handunetti, Sudesh Peiris, Sita Kumari, Kumara Jayakantha, Shyam Perera, Ashoka Rodrigo, Nimal Anthony, Ariyasena Gamage, Gunawardane Hettiarachchi, Takshila Vaas, Ishani Dharmasiri, Ranjith Jayasekara, D.B. Gangodatenna, Udeni Subasinghe, Sanjeeva Perera, Buddhika Lokuketiya and Ranjith Rubasinghe. Camera : K.D. Dayananda **** Back **** |
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