A renowned filmmaker receives a mysterious call from an old college mate in the middle of the night. Asandhimitta, whom he recalls as a large and voluptuous woman, asks him to make a film based on her life. She then confesses that she was recently involved in a triple homicide of three women and is taken into custody shortly afterwards. Intrigued, the filmmaker attempts to piece together her fragmented story for a film while Asandhimitta herself awaits her fate in a local prison.
According to The Film Experience by Roy Hus and Norman Silverstein: Since most of the film footage is for commercial, educational and scientific use, ‘research films’ in their purest form are very much with us… Moreover, they are greatly similar in purpose to the very first moving pictures.
Filmgoer’s puzzle
Asoka Handagama’s film style is different from the formula films made for entertainment and Box Office. His use of film medium may be a puzzle to ordinary filmgoer. Like Saman Wickramarachchi’s novella, Asoka Handagama’s feature film is different in form and style.
Dr Lester James Peries was the pioneer to break away from the formula and the popular film. Martin Wickramasinghe’s great novel Gam Peraliya was made into a feature film which won the Indian International Award for the Best Feature and paved the way for more serious films for admiration. There were more films on reality and the conflict of human life in the Sri Lankan context. It was not mere entertainment but something beyond that. But still, the north and south Indian influence were there.
The fifth circuit was not a remedy to more serious film appreciation. There is no national policy to safeguard the Sri Lankan film industry. Therefore HD Premasiri has set an example to the film industry by producing films of different styles and forms. Compared to his previous blockbuster, Yashodhara (Dir: Professor Sunil Ariyaratna) it’s a complete change which shows the producer is capable of producing varied films, essential for a healthy film industry.
Social strata
Asandhimitta’s film theme revolves around a lower-middle-class woman who earns her living as a ticket checker at a vehicle parking space. She lost her job owing to a government decision taken to utilize that space for another purpose.
She is a single mother with two little boys. The novelist, as well as the filmmaker, has fused fact and fiction into delusion. The person she meets in the bus… Wicky! Who is he? It’s up to the audience to find out who’s who and which is which. Throughout the film, the filmmaker takes us on a ride to the lower depths of the underprivileged social class. How people are subject to deception in various forms. They are pretenders or cheaters. That’s all they do for a living. The film, following the first phase, shifts into a gripping development. Sometimes it may attract the general audience too.
There is a necessity to have production companies to work on continuous film productions like Cinemas and Ceylon Theatres like in the early history of cinema. The exhibitors must consider giving more time to SL Films. Thereby encourage these new range filmmakers. In this context, Sarasavi Cineru provides new avenues to Sri Lankan films.
from daily news