Nikini Vessa sees the light of day

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

Nikini Vessa, rain that never kisses the earth, is the debut film of producer Dr. Kusumsiri de Silva and Director Aruna Jayawardena. After three years it is now being screened at the CEL circuit theatres countrywide.

Nikini Vessa, which means August rain revolves around the lives of men and women in the Dry Zone. Based on a unique theme it presents a story that has never been discussed in the history of Sri Lankan cinema or perhaps even in the world.

Veteran actress Chandani Seneviratne plays the lead role of a female mortician (Somalatha) in a village, Nugelanda where her sole hope in life is to put up a crematorium. A middle-aged spinster, Somalatha faces challenges in conducting her profession as it is considered one of the few professions unsuitable for women in the local culture.

Society looks at her negatively, as a bad omen or a cursed person to engage in such activity, and expects her to lead a normal life like the other domestic women with a family and children.

Family

Her only family is her mother whose prime interest prior to her death is to find a proper partner for her daughter. Her attempts to find a suitable partner for her daughter through many marriage proposals published in the newspapers is not an easy task due to her profession.

Piyasiri (Jagath Manuwarna) is Somalatha's only employee who handles almost everything in her business. He is a typical care free village youth who leads a simple life. Somalatha helps Piyasiri to start life as a family man with a girl he meets by chance. She helps them out as an act of benevolence helping others to achieve in life what in her own life seems unfulfilled.

The film opens to another theme commonly seen in the Dry Zone, the human-elephant conflict. It is marked when Piyasiri's pregnant wife was killed in a wild elephant attack losing him both the newly wedded wife and the unborn child.

Crematorium

Somalatha has another friend, Wishwa (Bimal Jayakody) an architect who helps her to succeed to achieve her dream. He designs the crematorium for her and during the work related meetings a close relationship develops between the two. The film with multiple themes is unique to the Sri Lankan Dry Zone. Except for the main theme, the life of a female mortician, issues such as the drought, the human-elephant conflict, hardships in rural farming, fresh water fisheries are highlighted, said Producer Dr. Kusumsiri de Silva.

Dr. de Silva is a leading gynaecologist in a career spanning 30 years in the public and private medical sectors. He told the Sunday Observer that he selected the theme carefully for his debut film. He said the collaboration of Director Aruna Jayawardana and himself was a turning point to give life to such a unique and interesting theme.

"The film was never created to earn profits. I produced this film as he had a passion for the arena for the self-satisfaction I received after being involved in this work is immense, especially to participate in international film festivals and competitions. Having mingled with international film-makers and fans is an opportunity it was not my intention to make a profit."

According to him there is no division such as commercial movies or non-commercial. There should be only films that can be enjoyed and that cannot be enjoyed. However, in Sri Lanka the situation is completely different. For a producer to merely release his film in a circuit of theatres is a challenging task. "We had to wait for more than three years to screen the film. This is demoralising", the Doctor said.

Skills

Dr. Kusumsiri de Silva had honed his skills in the arts and school stage drama. His extraordinary love for the cinema made him view many movies that came to the Broadway, Matara since the 1960s. He set up an Art Circle when he commenced studies at the Colombo Medical College under the patronage of Prof. Nandadasa Kodagoda.

The premiere of Nikini Vessa was held recently at the Regal Theatre, Colombo.

Producer Dr. Kusumsiri de Silva, director and playwright Aruna Jayawardana, director of photography Channa Deshapriya, music director Nadeeka Guruge, editor Jeevantha Devapriya and sound designer Lalith Wasantha participated.