استمتع بـUnlimited مع Magzter GOLD

استمتع بـUnlimited مع Magzter GOLD

احصل على وصول غير محدود إلى أكثر من 9000 مجلة وصحيفة وقصة مميزة مقابل

$149.99
 
$74.99/سنة
The Perfect Holiday Gift Gift Now

Reflecting on Sumitra Peries' Gehenu Lamai

October 12, 2025

|

Sunday Island

The other day, I had the rare privilege of sitting in the darkened hall of Scope Cinema at the Colombo City Centre, watching the newly restored 4K version of Gehenu Lamai (Girls).

- BY AVISHKA MARIO SENEWIRATNE

Reflecting on Sumitra Peries' Gehenu Lamai

It was a haunting experience. The film was released 20 years before I was born, at the height of what we may rightly call the golden age of Sri Lankan cinema. To me, the film was never a stranger. I had caught fragments of it on television over the years. But to see it brought to life on the big screen, in all its restored beauty, was to rediscover it as though for the first time.

What lingered most, even in my childhood, was the music. The genius of the late Nimal Mendis, paired with the lilting voice of the late Neela Wickramasinghe in Viyo Gee, carved an unforgettable memory in my heart. That melody was woven into my life not only through the screen but through the sound of my mother's hands at the piano, playing Viyo Gee across the years at our home. For me, it was more than a mere song. Happily, my mother accompanied me to the show.

I had the good fortune of knowing the late Sumitra Peries, the director of this masterpiece, in the last year of her life. That friendship, fleeting though it was, is a treasure beyond measure. Restoration and relaunching, after all, is not new to me either. In 2022, I myself authored a book and, with the Tulana Media Unit and Hemapriya Kandamby, restored the 16mm film Little Bike Lost (1956). This pioneering outdoor film, which predated Lester James Peries's Rekava, returned to life that year. Sumitra herself graced the occasion as Guest of Honour. I remember telling her with the utmost sincerity: "I liked your films more than your husband's." She only smiled and replied, "Without Lester, I wouldn't do mine."

المزيد من القصص من Sunday Island

Sunday Island

Sunday Island

Upward to riches from a cleaner's job at Hotel Ceylon-Intercontinental

The third among siblings, and three years younger to me in a neighbouring family near to us in down Wedikanda Road in Ratmalana was Rohan who took life easy. School was, for him, a vacation from the more interesting mission in life of playing cricket. Rohan did not realize that truancy was going to cause him and his family grief in later life.

time to read

6 mins

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

Sunday Island

What is this life if full of care... Burdened with woes and many to spare?

The sentiment expressed above is an interfered-with first two lines of the Welsh poet W H Davies' poem 'Leisure' (1911), where he mourns the fact people do not stop to appreciate nature.

time to read

4 mins

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

Sunday Island

Lanka plans $1.6 bn in cyclone recovery spending in 2026

Sri Lanka's government announced plans on Thursday for $1.6 billion in extra spending in 2026 to fund the country's recovery from Cyclone Ditwah, which killed more than 640 people.

time to read

2 mins

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

Sunday Island

A World of Books: Martin Wickramasinghe in Colombo

Almost immediately, the 16-year-old Martin Wickramasinghe was thrown into an unfamiliar environment.

time to read

8 mins

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

OCC agrees to SriLankan Airlines' debt restructuring proposal: Treasury Sec

The Official Credit Committee (OCC) which is involved with Sri Lanka's debt restructuring has agreed to the island nation's proposal for the state-owned Srilankan Airlines' debt repayment, Treasury Secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma said.

time to read

1 mins

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

Sunday Island

Lakshman Balasuriya - simply a top-class human being

It is with deep sorrow that I share the passing of one of my dearests and most trusted friends of many years, Lakshman Balasuriya.

time to read

3 mins

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

Why the Proposed Amendments to Sri Lanka's Universities Act Raise Fears of Authoritarianism, Democratic Backsliding, and a Dangerous Precedent for Academic Freedom

Sri Lanka’s university system has entered a moment of profound uncertainty as the National People’s Power (NPP) government advances a series of amendments to the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978.

time to read

10 mins

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

Generous help from single donor to support cyclone relief

£1,000 to each family of naval personnel lost in rescue mission

time to read

1 min

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy says: 'Yunus is trying to bring Islamists to power in Bangladesh via rigged polls. Threat to India very real'

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son and adviser of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has warned that the interim government in Dhaka, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, is attempting to engineer a “rigged election” to bring Islamist forces to power, a development he said poses a “very real and imminent” security threat to India.

time to read

2 mins

December 21, 2025

Sunday Island

Sunday Island

Another Christmas, Another Disaster, Another Recovery Mountain to Climb

The 2004 Asian Tsunami erupted the day after Christmas.

time to read

7 mins

December 21, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size

Holiday offer front
Holiday offer back