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Kala Korner - by Dee Cee

Prasanna does it again
Prasanna Vithanage is a bold young filmmaker willing to experiment. His docu-style feature film, Ira Madiyama is a rare treat. It's a new experience for the cinema-goer who finds three stories interwoven and presented in a most interesting way. There is freshness in his approach. The players don't act - they simply live their normal lives. Cameraman M. D. Mahindapala captures their moods brilliantly. The music, sparingly used, is meaningfully presented.

At the end of the film, one begins to wonder how Prasanna made such an interesting film with none of the usual ingredients. There are no romances. There are no fights. There are no songs. There are no crude jokes. There are no vulgar dialogues. Yet the film is good. No wonder foreign audiences liked it. It was highly acclaimed at International Film Festivals, winning a number of awards.

The theme being the war in the north, it is a sensitive subject that Prasanna has handled well. That's why we can leave the cinema hall happy that we have seen a good film. He identifies three parties affected by the war and relates each one's plight. His theme is the human aspect and that's why one can relate to it.

Lead actress Nimmi Harasgama won the Best Actress Award at the Fifth International Film Festival of Las Palmas De Gran Canana in Spain. Hers is a restrained performance as Chamari, the young woman looking for her soldier-husband who is missing in action. The 11-year-old Mohamad Rahfiulla as Arafath whose love for his dog makes him sad when the family is forced out of their homes by the rebels, is so natural that he gains the sympathy of the audience. Possibly for the first time in a Sinhala film, Prasanna uses Muslim faces for Muslim characters thus making them credible. Normally, Sinhala actors play these roles.

Few may have realized that Lakshman Joseph de Saram makes his debut as music director in a Sinhala film. We have seen him playing in almost all of Premasiri Khemadasa's concerts. And now he is on new ground. The effort is admirable.

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