Delovak Athara (Sinhala, Between Two Worlds) is a 1966 Sri Lankan drama film directed by Dr. Lester James Peries, with screenplay, dialogue, and script by Dr. Tissa Abeysekara.[1] The film stars Tony Ranasinghe and Suvineetha Weerasinghe in lead roles, along with Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya and Wijeratne Warakagoda.[2]

දෙලොවක් අතර (Delovak Athara)
Tony Ranasinghe and Suwineetha Weeeasinghe in a sequence from the film
Directed byLester James Peries
Written byLester James Peries
Reggie Siriwardene
Gamini Gunawardena
Tissa Abeysekera
Produced byAnton Wickremasinghe
StarringTony Ranasinghe
Suvineetha Weerasinghe
Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya
Iranganie Serasinghe
CinematographyWilliam Blake
Edited bySumitra Gunawardana
Music byW.D. Amaradeva
Distributed byCinelanka Ltd.
Release date
  • 1966 (1966)
Running time
103 minutes
CountrySri Lanka
LanguageSinhala
Budget200,000 rupees

Peries developed the movie as a character study, utilizing a single incident to provide insight into the newly rich society of Sri Lanka in the time period. It proved to be his most successful film up to that time, surpassing Gamperaliya in box office earnings. It was also a critical success, winning praise from Sinhala critics like Philip Cooray and making the rounds at European film festivals, including the Valladolid Film Festival in Spain.[3]

The film was re-screened on 21 July 2018 at 4.30 p.m. at the Regal Cinema in Kandy for the Sarasaviya Film Festival.[4]

Plot

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At the onset of the film, Nissanka (Tony Ranasinghe) is engaged to marry Shiranee (Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya), a woman of the same social class. Nissanka decides to go to a club and asks Shiranee, who politely declines. He thus goes alone and meets an old friend, Chitra (Suwineetha Abeysekera). They rekindle their friendship, and Nissanka offers a ride home. Chitra agrees and they set off only to accidentally hit and kill a pedestrian. The two now have a large secret as they flee the scene. Nissanka's family subsequently attempts to cover up the murder. Chitra is faced with a moral dilemma but doesn't give Nissanka up to the police. She urges him to turn himself in. One man who had seen Nissanka's car when it hit the pedestrian, told the police, the numbers on the number plate. The police inquire into this and question Nissanka too. Nissanka's father tells the police that his servant drew the car and the servant is also questioned by the police. One day the servant sees that the pedestrian has passed away, so he runs away to his village. The policemen go to his village and arrest him. Meanwhile, mounting tensions and conflicts exacerbate the already tense situation, making Nissanka's life unbearable. He finally decides to go to the police with Chitra and confess what he has done.

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ "Delovak Athara - දෙලොවක් අතර". Sinhala Cinema Database. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  2. ^ "'Delovak Athara': One film, 50 years". Fragments. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Delovak Athara 1965". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Delovak Athara rescreened". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
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