Bindu in demand

Jayanthi Liyanage

October 4 saw, Director-Producer husband and wife duo, Somaratna Dissanayake and Renuka Balasuriya’s latest film Bindu topping the list as the highest grossing film on a single day, in Sri Lankan cinema history. On the twelfth day of screening, it grossed Rs.4,586,556.50 and the box office recorded an audience of 51,506, the largest number of cinema-goers to see a Sinhala film in a day.

At a press conference held at the Tharangani cinema of the National Film Corporation (NFC) on October 8, E.A.P. Film Distribution Company Manager K.G. Wimaladasa, announced this achievement.

On September 23, all shows of Bindu in cinemas island wide began with a free screening. To draw fresh crowds, from September 30, every Wednesday, adults to see Bindu are admitted to the cinemas at half-fare. “On the 30, the film grossed Rs.1,026,343.22 with an audience of 15,723. On October 7, it grossed Rs.1,544,414.07, drawing 24,371 people,” Wimaladasa noted. From October 9, every Friday, children to see Bindu at Savoy cinema, Wellawatte, will be admitted at Rs. 100 per head, to both ODC and Balcony.

On Sunday October 4, Proprietor Vipula Senarath of Cinesta Theatre in Anuradhapura, could not control the crowds that came for the Bindu screening at 2.30 p.m. They broke in through the doors and damages to the hall were heavy, said Wimaladasa.

On the same day the excess crowds to see Bindu at the Lekha Theatre in Homagama for the 10.30 a.m. show waited until the 5.30 p.m. show.

Presidential Adviser Ravindra Randeniya attributed Bindu’s success to the current peaceful environment in the country. Siri Raja Siri, a film by the same duo won its child actor, Kosala, the best child actor award in China International Film Festival. However the movie failed to cover its production costs, as during the time it was screened in Sri Lanka, in Colombo alone seven bombs exploded, Renuka Balasuriya said.

The team also revealed that Bindu’s October 4 record topples that previously held by Jackson Anthony’s Aba, grossing Rs.4,167,410.55 with 44,732 cinema-goers on August 31, 2008, the film’s 24th day of screening.

Director Dissanayake, NFC Consultant T.M. Sangadasa, film critic E.M.P. Edirisinghe, Vipula Senarath and Sriyani Amarasena also spoke at the conference.