Sri Lankan cinema encompasses the Sri Lankan film industry. It is a fledgling industry that has struggled to find a footing since its inauguration in 1947 with Kadawunu Poronduwa produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone. Sri Lankan films are usually made in Sinhala and Tamil, the dominant languages of the country.
During the first decade, most films were made in neighboring Southern India and closely followed the conventions of Indian cinema. Studio shooting was the norm, with Indian style sets erected in film studios. It is widely believed that Rekava, made in 1956 by pioneer director Lester James Peries, was the first Sinhala film to be shot completely out of studio, however, it was the film "Gambada Sundari", starring Kingsley Jayasekera and Sheela Peiris in 1950, which was the first film shot outside studios instead. It was also the first Sri Lankan film where, like in Rekava, the dialog was recorded on the spot. This was because the film was shot on 16mm, using an Auricon sound-on-film camera which recorded the sound on the 16mm film optically, unlike in the case of where the sound was recorded on a Kinevox 35mm magnetic recorder. The film was later 'blown-up' to 35mm and was screened in Colombo in 1950.
Though Rekava was acclaimed by local and international critics, the film failed to find an audience in the country and was a box office failure. Films continued to follow formulaic storylines borrowed from India up through the early 1960s despite such efforts as Sandesaya and Kurulu Bedda.
In 1964, Lester James Peries again contributed to the development of Sri Lankan cinema with Gamperaliya which was the first Sinhala film to feature no songs and like Rekava shot completely outside the studio. The camera work of William Blake garnered massive praise for portraying Sinhalese culture in a realistic manner and was hailed by critics and audiences alike. The producer Anton Wicremasinghe was awarded the Silver Peacock at the New Delhi International Film Festival for Gamperaliya. Following this breakthrough, several artistic Sinhala films were made in the late 1960s, including Sath Samudura by professor Siri Gunasinghe, supported by cinematography by Dr. D. B. Nihalsinghe.
During the 1970s, several talents came to the forefront, while commercial cinema continued to lift storylines and plots from Indian films. These include Dr. D.B. Nihalsingha with "Weilkatara"- Sri Lanka's first film in Cinemascope wide screen in 1972, and Vasantha Obeysekera who followed up his well-received debut Ves Gatho with a slew of successful films culminating with Palangetiyo in 1979. Another major director who stepped forward during this time is Dharmasena Pathiraja who examined the tensions of city youth in such works as Bambaru Awith and Ahas Gauwa. Artist and poet Mahagama Sekera's sole film Thun Man Handiya is also an important film in Sri Lankan cinema, released in 1970. Sumitra Peries, also struck out during the 1970s and she made films until 2023 with work that looked at the conflicting roles of women in society. Her works include Gehenu Lamai, Sakman Maluwa, Vaishnavee and Ganga Addara.
Over the next few decades, artists such as Tissa Abeysekara, Chandran Rutnam, Dr. D.B. Nihalsingha, Udayakantha Warnasooriya, H.D.Premaratne, Ashoka Handagama, Prasanna Vithanage, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Anomaa Rajakaruna and Inoka Sathyangani have attempted to breathe new life into the industry. Nihalsingha was an accomplished cinematographer as well as an editor, so his films had an input that was special and brought a viewpoint to all of them, most of which focused on exploited women.
Vithanage's film Purahanda Kaluwara is regarded as one of the best movies made in Sri Lanka as per international film critics as is Jayasundara's Sulanga Enu Pinisa which won the coveted Camera d'Or for best first film at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and was regarded as a notable film.
During the Sri Lankan Civil War, several films began to tackle gritty subjects such as family relationships, abortion, and the results of the conflict between the military and Tamil Tigers in the north. Director Asoka Handagama especially drawn criticism for pursuing such material in his work.
In the recent years, high-budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories have gained huge success. Furthermore, following the drastic impact on the film industry by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Adaraneeya Prarthana has emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of 2022.
History
A 1997 government committee identified the following 13 films as the best of the first 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema:
Rank Film title Director Year released 1 Nidhanaya Lester James Peiris 1972 2 Gamperaliya Lester James Peiris 1963 3 Viragaya Tissa Abeysekara 1987 4 Bambaru Awith Dharmasena Pathiraja 1978 5 Sath Samudura Siri Gunasinghe 1967 6 Thun Mang Handiya Mahagama Sekara 1970 7 Palangettiyo Vasantha Obeysekera 1979 8 Dadayama Vasantha Obeysekera 1984 9 Rekava Lester James Peiris 1956 10 Parasathumal Gamini Fonseka 1966 11 Welikathara D. B. Nihalsinghe 1970 12 Hansa Wilak Dharmasiri Bandaranayake 1980
Early development (1901–1947) 1901 marked the introduction of film to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) when a film was shown for the first time in the country at a private screening for the British governor West Ridgeway and prisoners of the Second Boer War. It was a short film that documented the British victory in the Boer War, the burial of Queen Victoria and the coronation of Edward VII. More English screenings followed and attracted British settlers and Anglicized Sinhalese.
Cinema in Sri Lanka became a public affair due to the efforts of Warwick Major, an Englishman who developed "bioscope" showings. These were films screened out in open areas and makeshift tents. The first permanent theaters were built by Madan Theaters in 1903. The company showed Indian films and achieved success, prompting the development of theaters by the rival Olympia.
In 1925 Rajakeeya Wickremaya (English:Royal Adventure) became the first film to be made in Sri Lanka. Dr. N.M. Perera played the lead in the film which was shown in India and Singapore. However, this film reels got burnt before they were shown in Sri Lanka. In 1933 the film Paliganeema was screened in Colombo.
During the 1920s and 1930s films with American stars like Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Rudolph Valentino, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. were popular in Sri Lanka. The Sheik and The Thief of Bagdad were especially popular. in 1932, the first sound film to be screened was shown at the Regal Cinema, titled "The Dream." By the 1930s Indian films started to surpass English films in popularity. Bilwa Mangal set an early record for Sri Lankan box office earnings.
The beginnings of cinema's spread was seen when the Indian Madan circuit established Elphinstone cinema in Colombo as a part of his extensive cinema chain in Asia. Empire cinema, which became the longest functioning cinema in Sri Lanka was established in 1915 and continued to function till 2003 when it was demolished to make way for a commercial building in Colombo.
Inauguration (1947) South Indian producer S. M. Nayagam played an important role in the development of the first Sri Lankan film. In 1945, Nayagam founded a company named Chitrakala Movietone and constructed a studio in Madurai, India for the purpose of making a Sinhalese film. After considering several options, he decided to build the film around the historical love story of Saliya and Asokamala and held a contest to find a suitable screenplay; the winner was budding artist Shanthi Kumar. Due to disagreements however, this project fell through and Nayagam broke a deal with dramatist B. A. W. Jayamanne to film his popular play Kadawunu Poronduwa.
Kumar determined to film his script left Nayagam's company and convinced the Ceylon Theaters group to fund his film. Faced with a more daunting task of putting together the film from scratch, the Ashokamala project began filming in Coimbatore about two months after the production of Kadawunu Poronduwa had initiated. Naygam's film would win out screening at the Mylan Theater on January 21, 1947. Ashokamala was screened three months later in April 1947 at the Elphinstone Theater.
Both films were popular with audiences but derided by critics who found them to be derivative of South Indian cinema.
Primitive stage (1947–1955) Following the success of Kadawunu Poronduwa, B. A. W. Jayamanne produced a string of popular movies based on his plays. These were Peralena Iranama, Kapati Arakshakaya, Weradunu Kurumanama (1948), Hadisi Vinischaya (1950, first film directed by Jayamanne; he handled the post on all his subsequent films), Sangavunu Pilithura (1951), Umathu Wishwasaya (1952), Kele Handa (1953), Iranganie (1954), Mathabedaya (1954), Daiva Wipakaya (1956), Wanaliya (1958), Hadisi Vivahaya (1959), Kawata Andare (1960), Jeewithe Pujawa (1961), Mangalika (1963) and Magul Poruwa (1967; completed after his death by another director). Jayamanne mostly adhered to a formula derived from South Indian cinema and didn't contribute to the development of artistic film. Most of his films featured the couple Rukmani Devi and Eddie Jayamanne (though never as lovers on screen) which allowed them to become the first stars of Sri Lankan cinema.
Following the dawn of independence, Sri Lanka instituted restrictions on travel to and from India causing Nayagam to move his business into the island to cut costs. He purchased land outside of Kandana and built the Sri Murugan Navakala studios (later known as the S. P. M. studios) which would for a time be the most developed studio in the country. His first production was Banda Nagarayata Pamine (1952) which was successful among local audiences. It was the first locally produced Sinhalese film though in technique it still remained South Indian. Nayagam followed the film with Prema Tharangaya (1953) and Ahankara Sthree (1954). Due to the low quality of the studio (Nayagam resisted buying high tech equipment), these films failed to match the standards of Bollywood imports. They were also highly formulaic based extensively on South Indian cinema (the technicians were all from India) featuring a combination of exaggerated melodrama, lowbrow comedy, scuffles and dance numbers.
Of the few filmmakers interested in pursuing a truly indigenous art form in these early years, Sirisena Wimalaweera was the most prominent. In his work, Wimalaweera researched Sri Lankan history when depicting historical characters like King Asoka, who oversaw the introduction of Buddhism to the island and Saradiel, a Robin Hood-like character.
K. Gunaratnam was another major producer in this period breaking into the scene with the technically skilled Sujatha made at the state of the art Modern Theaters studio in Salem, India. It was highly successful and influenced popular cinema over the following decade. It was revolutionary in its high production values and incorporation of North Indian cinema into the accepted South Indian model. Still, it failed to capture the true nature of Sinhalese life or create anything uniquely Sri Lankan.
Rekava (1956) In 1956 documentary filmmaker Lester James Peries and his fellow film technicians William Blake and Titus Thotawatte broke away from the Government Film Unit to produce what they hoped would be a truly Sinhalese film that would revolutionize Sri Lankan cinema. In all facets of the creation of Rekava, the trio strayed from tradition shooting completely outside of the studio, creating an original story with no basis in literary or historical material and utilizing a mostly inexperienced cast (with a few exceptions i.e. D. R. Nanayakkara).