Real D.S. Senanayake and Lakshman Mendis as the premier
Sinhala language biopic ‘Nidahase Piya DS’, is a well crafted film about the first prime minister of Ceylon, D.S. Senanayake, who headed a coterie of emerging young nationalist politicians to wrestle independence from Britain.
The main surprise of the film, which is not yet released in Sri Lanka, is the uncanny resemblance of main actor Lakshman Mendis to the late premier and it is also interesting to note how fast director Suneth Malinga Lokuhewa has evolved into a film maker of repute in firm control of the medium. After two disappointing films, ‘Sinhawalokanaya’, the first Sri Lankan cricket film bombed drawing criticism that it was a remake of Aamir Khan’s Hindi cricket flick Laagan while his second, ‘Spandana’, was a forgettable horror romance, shot entirely in an old colonial bungalow in Sri Lanka’s hill country.
The movie, ‘Nidahase Piya’ or Father of Freedom, doesn’t hero worship the late prime minister who didn’t study beyond the seventh grade, earning the nickname “Kale John” (Jungle John) for constantly playing truant. The film depicts how he spearheaded the bloodless struggle for independence. Through well researched historical material it depicts the rise of the man well known for his contribution to develop the cultivation of paddy by constructing many reservoirs and settle thousands poor landless people in large colonization schemes in the harsh dry zone.
The agitation for independence coincided with the temperance movement launched by the Sinhala Buddhist nationalists opposing the British plan to open up arrack taverns in every village. It was seen as a crafty colonial scheme to inebriate the nation to further British dominance.
Initially, DS looked like an unlikely candidate to lead a movement consisting of more educated statesmen than him, S.W.R.D Bandaranaike, J.R. Jayewardene and Sir John Kotelawala, but what made DS a natural leader was his close rapport with the common masses. Even his own father underestimated the abilities of his eldest son to join politics and confined him to manage a graphite mine.
The film begins with Senanayake’s death after falling from his horse and the action moves in flashbacks and historically accurate entries in a diary as read by Thumindu Dodanthenna who plays younger DS. Thumindu, who has been in stage plays for 20 years suddenly found stardom last year through Koombiyo tele-serial, tackles his role well but his mild, laid back personality falls short of accurately projecting the rugged, iron man exterior of the freedom fighter’s younger days.
The film portrays how unity among different ethnic communities became the key factor in forcing the British government to rethink their imperialist agendas and appoint two commissions to look into people’s grievances, finally deciding to grant independence.
DS was a politician who emphasized on ethnic harmony for the future progress of the nation but things were in a downward spiral after Sinhala Buddhist nationalism became a key ingredient of successive governments.
The film is a nostalgic look back for the people who have lived through the winds of change of island’s politics in the 50s and 60s and it is also an eye opener for the two generations born after DS to learn how a national hero pioneered a movement to gain independence with almost no bloodshed, unlike the other Third World nations which had to sacrifice much more than us.
Samantha Perera’s music score is excellent proving that he is one of the few musicians who can fill the void left by Maestro Premasiri Khemadasa’s demise. Deft cinematography and art direction recreate the feel of the era .
The massive cast includes 70 actors of two generations in addition to 25 foreign actors. The director has taken care to select actors with close physical resemblance to real life characters. G.R. Perera plays DS’ father, Nayana Hettiarachchi is the premier’s mother while Thisuri Yuwanika plays the younger version of his wife Molly Dunuwila and Susantha Chandramali tackles the role of older Molly.
The others cast members are Richard Manamudali (Olivar Gonnatilleke), Janak Premalal (E.W. Perera), Palitha Silva (F.R. Senanayaka) and Saranga Disasekara (S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake). Thesara Jayawardene, Douglas Ranasinghe, Buddadasa Vithanachchi, Roshan Pilapitiya, Anura Bandara Rajaguru and Udeni Alwis are also in the cast.
There had been reports that late actor/director Gamini Fonseka was in the process of writing the script for a biopic on Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike with H.A. Perera in the lead. Bandaranaike was the man who quit the United National Party to form his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party almost single handedly changing the future direction of national politics with mixed results. He was killed by a man described as a Buddhist monk and his wife Sirima became the world’s first elected woman prime minister while daughter Chandrika too led the country for two terms as president. Undoubtedly, he can be a most fascinating subject of a biopic.
The box office success of ’Nidahase Piya DS’ is likely to usher in a new genre of biopics as there is no dearth of interesting characters in Sri Lanka’s history.
The movie is a breath of fresh air for the Sinhala film industry which has reached a saturation point with a string of historical pieces, the majority of which have bored and confused the fans rather than entertaining them.
‘Nidahasee Piya’ may not please certain viewers judging by the way it has taken liberties to avoid featuring certain political developments during the era of independence…but can a film please everybody? – Somasiri Munasinghe
