‘Kampitha Vill’ shows the life and times of people in 'Panama'

Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Dr. Dharmasena Pathiraja's latest teledrama venture ‘Kampitha Vill’ (Turbulant Water) discusses about a group of people in eastern coast, who belonged to a diverse ethnic, religious and cultural background. Revolving around 'Panama', Eastern coastal village with its unique ethnic identity of Sinhalese and Tamil, the award winning director gleans into the lives and times of Sri Lankan history.

This well researched teledrama is scripted by Tilak Jayaratne and produced by Dunstan Senanayake for Digital Fiction. A talented cast including Mahendra Perera, Luxman Mendis, Palitha Silva, Daya Tennakoon Hemasiri Liyanage, Padmini Divithurugama, Roshan Pilapitiya, Anuruddhika Padukkage, Jayani Senanayake, Rathmalee Gunasekera, Lionel Wickrema, Chandrasoma Binduhewa, K. A. Milton Perera and Sarath Kotalawela are in the stellar cast.

Fifty kilometres from Akkaraipattu, Panama is a village where there were mixed marriages between Sinhalese and Tamils and the names of occupants represent their double identities. The teledrama highlights early colonial period under the British and the problem faced by the people in Panama due to the attempts by Colonial rulers to have an one administrative system. Angered by these attempts people get aggressive but at the end the British rulers manages to achieve their objective of having one centre for their administration.

The story is based on a Sinhala woman Heen Kella who gets pregnant by a well known archeologist, H. C. Bell lived in Sri Lanka and her marriage to Rassaiah Muthubanda, a man from the same village. Heen Kella dies at the child birth and the new born babe with his white skin proves his original Eurasian identity. Muthubanda returns to his village in the Eastern coast with the child and this gives the beginning to an interesting twist to the story of 'Kampitha Vill'.

However on the influence of the Colonial rulers the child is kidnapped and sent to India for higher education. Depicting the lifestyle of people of Panama, the teledrama shows the ethnic harmony between the Tamil and the Sinhalese who conduct mix marriages and develops a unique culture. Travelling long distances the Tamils go to worship temples while Sinhalese go to Devalas in the similar way.

And these multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural relationships develop and continue for several generations up to present. This well researched teledrama shows the social and political changes that took over this remote village later developing into a ground for ethnic war.

Famed for ‘Kadulla’ his previous teledrama production, 'Kampitha Vill' is sure to prove Dr. Pathiraja's versatility in this field of art.
'Kampitha Vill' telecast on Rupavahini on Saturdays from May 3 at 8.35pm.

Camera handled by Donald Karunaratne, make up Nalin Prematilake, production manager is Nanda Munasinghe. Musical score is directed by young musician Nadeeka Guruge.