TV Times

TV Times

‘Dhawala Kanya’ : A mystery story
By Susitha R. Fernando
‘Dhawala Kanya’ a teleplay based on Wilkie Collins’s ‘The Woman in White’ will be telecast every Saturday at 9.00 pm on Swarnavahini from January 17. The mysterious story woven around two sisters who resemble each other is directed by Anuruddha Jayasinghe and it is produced by Prof. Nimal Senanayake and Sunil Wickrema.

Walter (Roger Seneviratne), a young art-master, has secured a short-term appointment as a tutor to two young ladies of an aristocratic family in Kandy. While walking home on his last evening in the suburbs of Colombo, Walter meets a mysterious woman dressed in white (Sangeetha Weeraratne-I), apparently in deep distress.

He helps her on her way but later learns that she has escaped from an asylum. The next day he travels to Kandy. The household (walawwa) comprises Mr. Frederick (Gnananga Gunewardena), a reclusive hypochondriac; Laura (Sangeetha Weeraatne-II), his niece; and Marian (Jayani Senanayake), her devoted half-sister. Walter finds that Laura bears an astonishing resemblance to the woman in white, Anne. The simple-minded Anne had lived for a time in the neighbourhood of the walawwa as a child and was devoted to Laura’s mother, who first dressed her in white.

Walter and Laura fall in love. Laura, however, has promised her late father that she will marry Percy (Sriyantha Mendis)- a businessman of the elite class from the South. Marian, to avoid future complications for her sister, advises Walter to leave Kandy. Anne, after sending a letter to Laura warning her against Percy, meets Walter who is convinced that Percy was responsible for shutting her in the asylum. Laura is made to marry Percy against protests by the family lawyer Mr. Wilson (Wilson Guneratne). Walter, having lost Laura, leaves for India on a study tour of arts.

After their honeymoon, the couple return to Percy’s palatial house in Kalutara. They are accompanied by Percy’s friend, Fosco (W. Jayasiri), who married Laura’s aunt. Marian being so fond of her sister comes to reside at the Kalutara temporarily. She learns that Percy is in financial difficulties. He unsuccessfully attempts to bully Laura into signing a document which would allow him to use her marriage settlement of a large sum of money. Marian now realises that Fosco is the true villain and is plotting something more sinister.

Meanwhile, Anne reappears, promising to reveal to Laura a secret which will ruin Percy. Marian eavesdrops on Fosco and Percy but is caught in the rain. She collapses and becomes seriously ill with pneumonia. While ill, Laura is tricked into travelling to Colombo. Her identity and that of Anne are then switched. Anne dies in the hands of Fosco and is buried in Kandy as Laura, while Laura is drugged and placed in the asylum as Anne.

Marian recovers and leaves the Kalutara palace. She finds Walter who has returned from his tour in India. When they visit the asylum hoping to learn something from Anne, she finds Laura, supposedly suffering from the delusion that she is Percy’s wife.

Marian together with Walter and his friend Pasca (pet name for Pasquel) (Mahendra Perera) play some tricks and gets Laura out. They determine to restore Laura’s identity. Scripted by Prof. Nimal Senanayake, Ruwan Costa handled the camera and editor is Rukmal Nirosh. Nawaratne Gamage wrote the musical score.

Top