Film Review

Inspiring the pursuit of ideals

A review of the film Ho Gaana Pokuna :

by Dilshan Boange

Early last week, actor, playwright and theatre director, Indika Ferdinando, presented his maiden work for the big screen, Ho Gaana Pokuna (The Singing Pond), to an invited audience at the Savoy Cinema in Wellwatte. The movie marks Ferdinando's arrival to the realm of cinema as a screenwriter and film director.

The 'invitee show' was well attended by journalists, broadcasters and artistes along with personalities who are responsible for keeping the film industry alive in Sri Lanka.

Ho Gaana Pokuna is classified as a children's film. However, due to the subject matter and the manner in which it is presented, I feel it can be called a family film that will not leave adults bereft of entertainment and food for thought.

The story is set in a rural village with few modern facilities and conveniences and centres on a group of schoolchildren.

The village school -Dombagamuwa Elementary School has a student body of eighteen and is run singlehandedly by its principal, who is also its only teacher. But the lives of the children and the village itself is met with some sizable 'upward change' when 'Uma teacher' played by Anasuya Subasinghe arrives as a newly appointed graduate teacher.

At face level, the story can be summarised as a scenario where a group of financially underprivileged schoolchildren in a rural village in the interior of the country, see their dream of seeing the ocean being rekindled by an inspiring and idealistic young teacher who ensures dream are made to come true. But the real story is what is at the base and what runs through the storyline weaving a narrative of light laughter, emotions sorrowful and ebullient, witty dialogue, nuance actions and chirpy songs, all of which is beyond what a simple synopsis or summary can comprehensively capture.

Ho Gaana Pokuna offers much food for thought, especially to the urban cinemagoer. It is not cinematic entertainment in the form of cheap laughs and even cheaper plots. Although how 'realistic' or not in these times the whole scenario is, is debatable, what is clearly shown is that there is much practicality depicted to propound it all as 'doable'.

There is a strong ideological vein that runs through the film. In the broader context it is patently leftwing and in more specific placement in that spectrum, 'centre-left'. I may have some reservations about how certain traditional norms with regard to how elders should be treated by children are bruised, as seen with regard to how the children handle Justin, the bus driver, in certain instances and also in their tactic of waylaying the village bus one morning and stopping it from proceeding further on its journey, and dismissing the passengers. However, there is no strong message for a youth rebellion in this film in that sense; although it is best that the present generation of children, who are the growing masters of the cyber age, bequeathed on them after the digital revolution, are told by their parents the propriety of what ought and ought not be resorted in the face of initial hurdles when reaching childhood goals.

On the whole, I would say casting has been done successfully and the film benefits much from the accomplished screen artistes like Lucian Bulathsinhala, Jayalath Manoratne, Dayadeva Edirisinghe, Hyacinth Wijeratne and Jayani Senanayake, who play significant catalyst adult roles in the story, while also talented actors like Priyantha Sirikumara and Seneth Dikkumbura who do minor roles too deliver their characters admirably to enhance the quality of the overall fabric of performance. Ho Gaana Pokuna is sure to prove itself a delightful film for the whole family. As a children's film and a directorial debut it is, I believe, a success.