Udayakantha's Hiripoda Wessa:

A welcome drizzle to the arid cinemascape

IN his film career spanning the last decade, Udayakantha Warnasuriya has always attempted to focus on different aspects and social groups, which largely helped him gain a good response from critics and as well as cinemagoers.

Now in his latest film - Siripoda Wessa (A Beautiful Drizzle) too, Udayakantha has shifted his focus to youngsters - mostly teenagers in the Advanced Level classes.

The film revolves round a group of A/L students who take everything simply and do whatever that comes to their mind. Yet they have a responsibility towards their families.

In this film, Udayakantha goes on to portray the personal lives of three boys who are about to achieve a significant milestone in their lives while facing many challenges and yet focusing on education.

Pathum, Ramith and Prageeth are best friends and are among a group of several other youth who are in the same class at school.

These three come from different family backgrounds - one is the son of postman, the second belongs to a middle class family whose father is a garage owner and the third is from a wealthy family.

Pathum meets a beautiful schoolgirl and they fall in love while her brother challenges Pathum to run naked on the street in the city and climb a lamp post if he is a true lover. He accepts the challenge, runs naked and is taken into Police custody.

Prageeth's mother dies while on a foreign trip and his father marries another woman. Prageeth suspects his father for her mother's death and starts a quarrel with his father.

Ramith who is always ready to help others' lives in the same housing complex where a young and beautiful teacher named Arosha lives. She becomes their new Botany teacher.

She invites Ramith at midnight when no one is in the house and requests him to remove a body of person who had come to molest her. They take the body and put it in a garbage box. A few days back, Ramith sees the same person on a bus.

They encounter various problems, hardships, misery and happy moments faced by these youngsters whose lives are at a significant threshold and about to change forever.

The film stars Chathurika Peiris, Anarkali Akarsha, Harshani Perera, Jayalath Manoratne, Roshan Ranawana, Jayantha Atapattu, Pubudu Chathuranga, Jeewarani Kurukulasuriya and Vijaya Corea.

The camera director is Jayanath Gunawardena while editing is by Ravindra Guruge. Music is by Bhathiya and Santhush. The film's assistant director is Donald Jayantha.

The film's story and script is by Udayakantha himself. Hiripoda Wessa is produced by Soma Edirisinghe for EAP Films.

Udayakantha believes that the film would appeal to local movie lovers and would be a sensational experience.

Biography

UDAYAKANTHA Warnasuriya is a well-known teledrama and film director in Sri Lanka. He studied at Isipathana College, Richmond College (Galle) and Royal College.

He began his media career as a creative artist in one of Sri Lanka's leading advertising agencies. He later went on to establish his own advertising firm in Colombo.

He rose to prominence as a director of successful teledramas, the most popular ones being Menik Ketayama, Humalaya, Ekagei Kurullo, Diyasuliya, and Sagaraya Parada which have been broadcast on Rupavahini and other Leading TV Channels.

To date he has eleven feature films to his credit. Mahamera Usata (To the highest point of a Gigantic - 1997), Giniavi saha Ginikeli (Living with Terror - 1998), Bahubhary (Polygamy - 1999), Rajya Sevaya Pinisai (On State Service - 2000), Rosa Wasanthae (Spring of Rose - 2001), Bahubootayo (Clowns), Le Kiri Kandulu (Blood and Tears - 2002), Yakada Pihatu (Iron Feathers - 2003), Diyayata Gindara (Fire Under Water), Randiadahara (Shower of Gold - 2004) and Hiripoda Wessa (2005) are the titles of the films he directed.

These films have been acclaimed by cinema critics and fans, some of them have won awards at film festivals in Sri Lanka.

At the Presidential Award Ceremony in 2000 the film Rajya Sevaya Pinisai (on State Service) carried 10 awards including best screenplay and best direction. Randiyadahara also won several awards at the Presidential and Sarasavi Awards Ceremony 2004.

Udayakantha, married with two children, is now fully occupied in the Sri Lanka film and teledrama industry.