Photo Caption: “In this film, my ‘Koombio’ viewers might get upset with me. Take Jehan for instance, he’s a larger-than-life hero. But if you take Sidney, that’s not the case. He’s an ordinary man.”
By now, you may have heard the song “Bambaru Andanna” from Lakmal Darmarathna’s debut film. Lakmal is the director of the highly popular local TV series “Koombio” (Ants).
His first cinematic creation, “Walampoori or Seven and a Half Dreams,” is scheduled to screen across the island from April 25, and will also be released in “more than 15 countries” simultaneously.
The TV series “Koombio” features a storyline about “a player from Colombo’s lower class who plays games for the upper class.”
The film “Walampoori” is also based on a similar story of 8 people born in villages far from the capital, who abandoned education and seek various “shortcuts” to make ends meet.
They are all engaged in temporary jobs.
The team leader is Sidney Dias. He makes a living by helping patients find blood, kidneys, and accommodations for patients’ families near a major hospital.
Another person sells wooden Buddha statues to foreigners near Sigiriya Rock, claiming they are antique statues. Among them are also a circus deadly pit announcer, a barber, a swami, and a police officer.
“Akka” (Sister) whom you meet in the film is “a former mistress of a wealthy man in Colombo who now struggles intensely in the battle of life, expending all forms of labor, sexual and non-sexual.”
They come together “to somehow sell a Walampoori for millions and achieve happiness and comfort in their lives.”
The cast includes actors Priyantha Sirikumara, Dilhani Ekanayake, Sarath Kothalawala, Wasantha Moragoda, Thumindhu Dodantenna, Dharshan Dharmaraj, Anjan Premaratna, Ashan Dias, Udayanthi Kulatunga, King Ratnam, and Niroshan Wijesinghe.
“We have a shortcut life, you know. We buy lottery tickets morning and evening. Or we earn commissions. The reason is, we can’t live life on the right path upwards like this. So we’re always looking for alternative routes. Our whole life is built with alternatives.
Some find their Walampoori. Others don’t. This is the metaphor we use, and that we are each other’s villains at all times. We always think that in films, the villain needs to come from outside, the hero needs to be larger than life,” said ‘Walampoori’ director Lakmal Darmarathna to BBC Sinhala, commenting on his debut film set for release.
He mentioned that some viewers of the ‘Koombio’ TV series might be upset with him because of the ‘Walampoori’ film.
“In this film, my ‘Koombio’ viewers might get upset with me. Take Jehan for instance, he’s a larger-than-life hero. But if you take Sidney, that’s not the case. He’s an ordinary man. He mostly gets beaten up. He’s a super hero who gets beaten up,” he said.
“I think what Walampoori the film is really about is the journey of people who exist below the standard societal agreements, trying to find heaven in their lives, and the true exhaustion that comes with it,” Lakmal added.
