{"id":50955,"date":"2017-01-26T14:43:50","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T19:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=50955"},"modified":"2017-01-26T14:43:45","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T19:43:45","slug":"first-sinhala-talkie-broken-promise-was-released-70-years-ago-on-jan-21-1947","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=50955","title":{"rendered":"First Sinhala Talkie &#8220;Broken Promise&#8221; was Released 70 Years Ago on Jan 21 1947"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fb-like\" data-href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/archives\/50955\" data-layout=\"button_count\" data-action=\"like\" data-show-faces=\"true\" data-share=\"true\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>By<br \/>\nD.B.S.Jeyaraj<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>History was made 70 years ago when the film \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 (Broken Promise) premiered at the Kingsley Theatre in Colombo on 21 January 1947. The Chief Guest was D.S. Senanayake, Minister of Agriculture and Lands under the State Council system of governance during the penultimate stages of British rule. Senanayake went on to become the first Prime Minister of independent Ceylon as Sri Lanka was known then, within a year of this premiere.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50986\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50986\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KP-PP-1-600x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-large wp-image-50986\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-50986\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The presence of Senanayake, who was also then the leader of the House, at the first screening of a film denoted the importance of the event. \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 was no ordinary film. It was the first-ever Sinhala \u201ctalkie\u201d meaning a film where the characters on screen spoke and sang in the Sinhala language. Until then films shown in the island were in languages like English, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil or Telugu but not in Sinhala. Thus the screening of \u2018Broken Promise\u2019 was indeed of historic importance and was duly acknowledged so by the country\u2019s most senior Minister and future Prime Minister being present as Chief Guest at the first screening.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nThe film was produced by Sundaram Madhuranayagam generally known as S.M. Nayagam on behalf of Chitrakala Movietone Ltd. S.M. Nayagam, who originally hailed from Madurai District \u2013 in what was known as the Madras presidency during British rule \u2013 was an industrialist manufacturing soaps and perfumes. He had factories in India and Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_47681\" style=\"width: 243px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47681\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSS-233x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"233\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-47681\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-47681\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">DS Senanayake<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Nayagam set up a company to produce films and also established a film studio for that purpose. The production company named Sri Murugan Navakala Ltd. had an office in Madurai town. The studio named Chitrakala Movietone was located at Thrupparankundram, about six miles away from Madurai. Incidently Thirupparankundram is famous for a Murugan temple. It is regarded as one of the \u2018Arupadai Veedugal\u2019 or six abodes of Lord Muruga. Nayagam\u2019s studio was about one mile away from the temple. \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 was filmed entirely at the Chitrakala Movietone studio in Thirupparankundram- Madurai.<\/p>\n<p>The evolution and growth of cinema had seen frozen images becoming soundless moving images and then having sound added. Initially films with moving images were called silent films. Western nations particularly the USA focused more on the moving images. Thus films were generally called movies in those countries. In the Asian region particularly South Asia, the emphasis was more on sound, songs and conversation. Thus films with sound tracks were referred to as talkies. It is within this context that \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 was welcomed and hailed as the first Sinhala talkie. The message issued by the movie producers at the first screening highlighted this aspect effectively. \u201cIt is with pride and pleasure, Chitrakala presents to the four million Sinhalese of Ceylon, a picture in their own language for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Enthusiastic response<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sinhala filmgoers of the Island did receive the first Sinhala talkie enthusiastically. Only five prints of the film were made for screening initially. The first print was used for the premiere at Kingsley Theatre on 21 January 1947. Thereafter it continued to be screened at the rate of four shows daily in the Kingsley Theatre for 127 days at a stretch.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35780\" style=\"width: 202px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35780\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/DR.N._M._Perera.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"264\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35780\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-35780\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">DR.N. M. Perera<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The second print was screened on 22 January 1947 at the Gintupitiya Talkies in Colombo. This theatre was later re-named as Murugan Talkies. \u2018Broken Promise\u2019 ran for 42 days at this theatre in Colombo. The third print was screened on 23 January 1947 at the Mylan Theatre in Colombo. The film ran for 28 days at the Mylan. In addition to these three theatres, the film was also shown once daily at 10 a.m. at the New Olympia Theatre in Maradana. The same print shown at Mylan was screened in the mornings at the New Olympia. Thus \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 had a remarkable run in the capital city being shown simultaneously in four theatres in Colombo.<\/p>\n<p>The fourth and fifth prints of the film were screened on 24 January 1947 at the Panadura Talkies Theatre and Chandra Talkies in Avissawela. \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 ran for 28 days at a stretch in Panadura and 35 days in Avissawela. After the screenings in these theatres ended, the film was shown in other suburban and outstation theatres like Quinlon \u2013 Nugegoda, Kelani Talkies \u2013 Kelaniya, Nadarajah \u2013 Negombo, Chandra \u2013 Moratuwa, Bharatha Talkies \u2013 Ratnapura, Imperial Talkies \u2013 Kurunegala, Modern \u2013Badulla and Nadarajah \u2013 Trincomalee. \u2018Broken Promise\u2019 ran for several weeks at these theatres. Thereafter the film was shown in other theatres in various parts of the island. Record crowds were present for many, many weeks.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50963\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50963\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KT-300x175.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"175\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-50963\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-50963\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kingsley Theatre<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In Kandy a makeshift \u201ctent\u201d theatre was set up at the Bogambara grounds. Called \u2018Bogambara Theatre,\u2019 it was constructed with the sole purpose of exhibiting \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019. According to newspaper reports of the day, huge queues had formed at 6 a.m. itself for the first show scheduled at 10 a.m. Many tough guys in Kandy town had a field day by elbowing out patrons and buying up tickets in bulk and re-selling them at \u2018black market\u2019 prices. People from various parts of Kandy and Matale District hired buses and vans to visit Kandy town in groups and see \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019. Seeing the film became a community-oriented family event. The film was also a smashing success at the box-office.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Remarkable success despite criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The remarkable thing about the widespread popularity of the film was that it had succeeded with the masses despite a strongly critical Sinhala press. Most reviews of the film were negatively written in Sinhala newspapers and journals. It was criticised as being overtly \u201cIndian\u201d in content and form and not authentically \u201cSinhala\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The well-known Sinhala film critic Jayawilal Wilegoda in reviewing the film had a pithy comment. He said that South Indian Cinema which speaks in 12 languages has added one more language \u2013 Sinhala \u2013 to their list. What Wilegoda implied of course was that \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 though a Sinhala film was in reality another Indian film.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this negativity on the part of the Sinhala intelligentsia, the ordinary people were thrilled at the prospect of seeing a film on screen where the characters spoke dialogues and sang songs in Sinhala. In their own simple way the people grasped the significance of the first Sinhala talkie and responded positively. \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 being the first Sinhala talkie had struck a responsive chord and touched their hearts! In that sense a Tamil film producer had created history by making the first Sinhala talkie.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequently the pioneering producer S.M. Nayagam himself went on record in a newspaper interview explaining why he produced the film. What Nayagam said was: \u201cYou may be wondering why on earth a Tamil person came forward to produce a Sinhala film. You may want to know the reason. My answer is very simple. I have noted that a good number of my Sinhala friends enjoy Tamil and Hindi films. I wanted to find out why do they love and appreciate those films and in the reasoning I came to realise that my friends were sad that they did not have films in their own language while there was a lot of resources and talent here. This was the reason that led me to do a Sinhala film using the talents of the local actors and actresses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>A saga worth recounting<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The circumstances that led to an Indian Tamil entrepreneur producing the first Sinhala feature film is by itself an interesting saga worthy of recounting in depth. It would shed much light on the multi-ethnic contribution to Sinhala cinema. Besides, delving into the background and history of \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 would also reveal illuminating details of the various attempts by different persons to make films in Sinhala over the years.<\/p>\n<p>Ceylon or Sri Lanka though tiny when compared to its giant neighbour India was evolving into a lucrative market for screening films. During the silent films era an Englishman A.W. Andrew began importing and screening US, British and other European films in Sri Lanka. His son Laurence Andrew followed in his father\u2019s footsteps and set up a company named Warwick Bioscope Ltd. (bioscope was the name of projectors used to screen films in that era. The term bioscope was commonly used to describe all films then). Later on the Warwick Bioscope company obtained a license to import and screen Indian silent films also in the Island. Soon this European monopoly was challenged by entrepreneurs from the Indian sub-continent.<\/p>\n<p>J.F.A. Madan hailing from the dynamic Parsee community in Bombay (now Mumbai) had started the Elphinstone Bioscope Company in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and begun screening and also producing films in India. His son J.J. Madan expanded further by exhibiting films in the Malayan states including Singapore, Burma and also Sri Lanka. A network of theatres more commonly called cinema halls were set up under the aegis of Madan Theatres Ltd. In Sri Lanka Madan theatres teamed up with G.D. Hendrick Seneviratne, the legendary founder of Tower Hall. In 1932 Tower Hall was converted into a movie theatre.<\/p>\n<p>Another Indian from Gujarat, T.A.J. Noorbhai, also entered the field of screening films by forming the Eastern Film Company in 1924. He was followed by a Jaffna Tamil businessman Sir Chittampalam Abraham Gardiner who established Ceylon Theatres Ltd. in 1928. Apart from these major exhibitors, there were a number of minor film exhibitors with smaller film companies.<\/p>\n<p>The market for screening films in Sri Lanka began to develop rapidly in the twenties, thirties and forties of the 20th century. Though the films were in non-Sinhala languages, a very large number of Sinhalese, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas, began flocking to cinema halls to see films. Tamil and Hindi films were increasingly relished by Sinhala audiences. This phenomenon gave rise to the opinion that the time was ripe for producing and screening original Sinhala films without having to depend on Western or India made films.<\/p>\n<p>Though S.M. Nayagam is acknowledged as the producer of the first Sinhala talkie, he was not the pioneer in producing the first-ever Sinhala film. The credit for that goes to Noorbhai of Eastern Film Company. It was however a silent film without a sound track. The film was a costume drama \u2018Rajakeeya Wickramaya\u2019 titled \u2018A Royal Adventure\u2019 in English. The dashing young man who played the lead role was a 20-year-old student named Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera who was to serve as Finance Minister in later years. N.M. Perera was then a student reading for his London BA degree at the University College in Colombo. He later went to the UK and obtained a double doctorate, entered politics and became as Dr. N. M. Perera, the Leader of the Trotskyite Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP).<\/p>\n<p>NM\u2019s leading lady in this Royal adventure film was a Eurasian beauty named Sybil Feeme. Others acting in the film were N.P.D. Albert Silva, Reginald Perera, Percy Perera, Gratien Perera, Eric Weerasekara, David Manuel and N.R. Dias. The Director was a Bengali named Hari Dasgupta. \u2018Rajakeeya Wickramaya\u2019 was filmed in Bombay in 1925. It was first screened in Singapore. Apparently only one print was made. Thereafter it was brought to Bombay for making more copies to be screened in Lanka. There was a \u2018mysterious\u201d accident at the studio laboratory and the whole film was destroyed. The film never saw the light of day in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<p>The well-known British documentary film maker and historian Basil Wright was commissioned by the Tea Propaganda Board to make a film about the island known as Ceylon then. Wright made a 38-minute film titled \u2018Song of Ceylon\u2019 in 1934. The documentary narrator was Lionel Wendt. The documentary was screened extensively in Sri Lanka in 1935 and referred to in Sinhala as \u2018Lanka Geethaya\u2019.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50956\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50956\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Kadawunu-Poronduwa-300x195.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-50956\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-50956\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Kadawunu Poronduwa&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u2018Song of Ceylon\u2019 inspired a music teacher, W. Don Edward, to make a somewhat educational film. Don Edward produced and directed a silent film named \u2018Paliganeema\u2019 or \u2018Revenge\u2019. The 25-minute-long film was based on a historical anecdote. It was first screened on 19 May 1936 at the Capitol Theatre in Colombo. The screening was a disaster and the film was stopped after two days. However it was later screened in theatres as a supplementary movie to the main film being shown. Among those playing prominent parts in \u2018Paliganeema\u2019 were N.R. Dias, Gunapala and Sriya Kantha.<\/p>\n<p>The proprietor of Capitol Theatre in those days was a Muslim businessman named F.D. Mohammed Farook. He formed the Bombay Pioneer Films Company in 1938 and attempted to make a Sinhala film the following year. Farook had reportedly obtained a film script titled \u2018Shantha\u2019 and wanted to take a troupe of Sinhala stage actors to Bombay to shoot the film. His plans had to be aborted after World War II broke out on 3 September 1939.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Spurt of activity<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The war years saw a lull in attempts to produce Sinhala films but films from India screened in Lanka ran successfully for lengthy periods minting money for the exhibitors. This further impelled the desire to produce a Sinhala film and potentially make more money. The rationale was that if films made in languages other than Sinhala could be lapped up by Sinhala audiences, then how much more would be the reception for talkies made in the Sinhala language. So when the war ended in 1945 and conditions for film making became more conducive, there was a spurt of activity in the direction of producing Sinhala \u201ctalkie\u201d films.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50988\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50988\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KP2-300x236.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-50988\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-50988\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8216;Kadawunu Porobduwa&#8217;  ~  Lead actors BAW Jayamanne &#038; Rukmani Devi<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Two such persons who in 1945 embarked eagerly on projects to make Sinhala talkies were an Indian Muslim and a Jaffna Tamil based in Colombo. M.S.M. Zacky was the advertising manager of the Imperial Mobile Cinema Company. Zacky himself wrote the story and screenplay for a film titled \u2018Premawathi\u2019. He had dialogues written by Sinhala playwrights for it. Armed with a written script Zacky went to Madras (now Chennai) and made efforts to film \u2018Premawathi\u2019 with Indian actors. However Zacky was duped by some personnel he enlisted to make the movie. He was ejected from the project and others tried to film \u2018Premawathi\u2019 on their own. Zacky returned to Colombo a dejected man. The attempt to film \u2018Premawathi\u2019 by others too fizzled out. \u2018Premawathi\u2019 suffered an early death.<\/p>\n<p>The Jaffna Tamil who tried to shoot a Sinhala film in 1946 was S. Thuraisingham who had earlier been the Distribution Manager at Ceylon Theatres owned by Sir Chittampalam Gardiner. Thuraisingham, a film buff, had been fascinated by the Persian film \u2018Layla and Majnu\u2019 made in 1937 by the great Iranian Film Director Abdolhossein Sepanta. This film was about the famous star crossed lovers Laila and Majnu in Sufi Islam literature. Thuraisingham adapted the story into Sinhala and formed the \u2018Lanka Mohini Films\u2019 in 1945 to produce the tale of Layla-Majnu.<\/p>\n<p>Thuraisingham went to Madras with the script to make the film. It was named \u2018Divya Premaya\u2019 or \u2018Divine Love\u2019. Accompanying Thuraisingham was the great thespian E.C.B. Wijeysinghe of \u2018Ralahamy\u2019 and \u2018He Comes from Jaffna\u2019 fame. Other actors in the film were the Tower Hall artistes C. Weerasekara, C. Wijenayake, Simeon de Silva, O. Rodrigo, T. Senanayake, Leela Gunasekera and Wimala Kantha.<\/p>\n<p>Filming started in Madras and there was much publicity in film journals about the first Sinhala talkie \u2018Divya Premaya\u2019 being produced. Unfortunately for Thuraisingham, the company ran out of funds as persons who promised cash infusions did not do so. Complicating matters further was E.C.B. Wijesinghe falling sick and returning to Sri Lanka. The film was aborted. Had it succeeded as planned \u2018Divya Premaya\u2019 and S. Thuraisingham would have made history as the first Sinhala talkie and its producer respectively. It was destined perhaps that the honour should go to \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 and S.M. Nayagam.<\/p>\n<p>However Thuraisingham did manage to produce \u2018Divya Premaya\u2019 a few years later. He formed a new production company, Shanmugam Films, in partnership with businessmen P. Ramalingam and M. Muttiah and made the film. N.P. Javeri directed the movie while H.R. Padmanabha Shastri composed the music. Actors such as Luxman Rajapaksa, Srimathi Karunadevi, Robert Perera, Simon Silva and Peter Siriwardena starred in the movie. \u2018Divya Premaya\u2019 premiered on 22 May 1948 at the Gintupitiya \u2018Murugan\u2019 Talkies in Colombo. The film that could have been the first Sinhala talkie became the fourth Sinhala talkie. Interestingly enough \u2018Divya Premaya\u2019 was release one year before the Telugu-Tamil film \u2018Layla-Majnu\u2019 starring A. Nageswara Rao and P. Bhanumathy was made in 1949. This film was later dubbed into Sinhala as \u2018Manaprayathanaya\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nayagam\u2019s persistence<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As stated earlier S.M. Nayagam constructed his studio Chitrakala Movietone at Thirupparankundram near Madurai town. Initially he produced Tamil films there and also rented out floors for filming other films. Among the films he produced was a mythological movie \u2018Kumaraguru\u2019 released on 6 September 1946. The film was directed by Jyothish Sinha from Calcutta. Later when Nayagam produced \u2018Broken Promise,\u2019 he had the same Bengali filmmaker Jyothish Sinha direct it. Among the artistes acting in Kumaraguru were Krishna Iyer, Vidwan Mani, Thanjavoor Mani, Jayabala and Radha.<\/p>\n<p>Another Tamil film shot at the Chitrakala studio was \u2018Thaai Naadu\u2019 starring the swashbuckling action hero \u2018Battling Mani\u2019. The film was directed by T.S. Mani while R. Narayana Iyer composed the music. It was the same Narayana Iyer who composed music for \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019; also \u2018Thaai Naadu\u2019 meaning \u2018Motherland\u2019 which was released on 15 August 1947, India\u2019s day of Independence from the British. The film was a smashing box office hit. \u2018Vichitra Vanitha,\u2019 a comedy made by K. Subramaniam, the father of illustrious dancer Padma Subramaniyam, was also filmed partly at Nayagam\u2019s studio.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50983\" style=\"width: 535px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50983\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KP-SDB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50983\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-50983\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Premiere of Kadawunu Porobduwa at Kingsley on Jan 21st 1947. Producer SM Nayagam &#038; Artistes in Group<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Nayagam, tasting success as a producer of Tamil films in India, now began thinking of producing a Sinhala film. The unsuccessful attempts of M.S.M. Zacky and S. Thuraisingham to produce a Sinhala film in India accelerated this desire. After all Nayagam had his own studio in Madurai which gave him an advantage over others who wanted to shoot a Sinhala film in an Indian studio.<\/p>\n<p>Initially Nayagam wanted to produce a historical film in Sinhala. He first wanted to make a film on Kannusamy Nayakkar who took on the name Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe and reigned as the last king of Kandy from 1798 to 1815. Nayagam procured a script written on the subject by D. V. Seneviratne and undertook a feasibility study. He found that the budget would be rather high to make an elaborate costume drama or period movie about Kandy\u2019s last king. Being a shrewd businessman Nayagam was not sure whether the unexplored \u2018virgin\u2019 Sinhala film market territory could yield sufficient profits to cover the cost of production.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50957\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50957\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KP-KP-B.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"274\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50957\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-50957\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Newspaper ADVERTORIAL for &#8216;Kadawunu Poronduwa&#8217;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Nayagam then went into discussions with Sinhala dramatist Sirisena Wimalaweera. Nayagam and Wimalaweera decided to do a film on the historic character Utuwankanda Sura Saradiel (1832 -64), the legendary bandit known as the \u2018Robin Hood\u2019 of Sri Lanka. Wimalaweera wrote a screenplay about Saradiel but also wanted to direct the film. Nayagam refused saying he wanted the film to be directed by an Indian director. The brief partnership ended but Wimalaweera did not abandon Saradiel. Wimalaweera, who later set up the Nawajeewana Studio in Kiribathgoda, produced and directed the film \u2018Saradiel\u2019 in 1954. The film \u2018Saradiel\u2019 for which Hugo Fernando composed music was released under Wimalweera\u2019s Nawajeewana films banner.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/SL-DBSJ.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"90\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-41226\" \/><\/p>\n<p>With these attempts to film a history based talkie in Sinhala ending in failure, S.M. Nayagam hit upon a novel idea. He announced a competition for film scripts to make a film in Sinhala. There was a huge response. The winner was Shanthi Kumar Seneviratne who wrote a screenplay about the romance between Prince Saliya and commoner Asokamala. The film was to be named \u2018Asokamala\u2019. Again there was a clash of wills. Shanthi Kumar wanted to direct the film himself but Nayagam was unwilling. So the move by Nayagam to film \u2018Asokamala\u2019 ended in failure.<\/p>\n<p>Nayagam however persisted with his efforts to produce a Sinhala film. He now had a different idea. Many Tamil dramas and folk plays had been turned into films in India. Nayagam too thought of selecting a popular Sinhala drama and making a film out of it. One of the most popular Sinhala dramas at the time was staged by the Negombo Minerva theatre group run by the Jayamanne brothers. The popular play had been staged over 800 times in various parts of the island. The name of the play was \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 or \u2018Broken Promise\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article written for the &#8220;Spotlight&#8221; Column appears in the &#8220;Daily FT&#8221; of January 21, 2017. It can be accessed here:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ft.lk\/article\/592845\/First-Sinhala-talkie--Kadawunu-Poronduwa--was-released-70-years-ago\">http:\/\/www.ft.lk\/article\/592845\/First-Sinhala-talkie&#8211;Kadawunu-Poronduwa&#8211;was-released-70-years-ago<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"tweetbutton50955\" class=\"tw_button\" style=\"float:right;margin-left:10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdbsjeyaraj.com%2Fdbsj%2F%3Fp%3D50955&amp;text=First%20Sinhala%20Talkie%20%26%238220%3BBroken%20Promise%26%238221%3B%20was%20Released%2070%20Years%20Ago%20on%20Jan%2021%201947&amp;related=&amp;lang=en&amp;count=horizontal\" class=\"twitter-share-button\"  style=\"width:55px;height:22px;background:transparent url('https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-tweet-button\/tweetn.png') no-repeat  0 0;text-align:left;text-indent:-9999px;display:block;\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By D.B.S.Jeyaraj History was made 70 years ago when the film \u2018Kadawunu Poronduwa\u2019 (Broken Promise) premiered at the Kingsley Theatre in Colombo on 21 January 1947. The Chief Guest was D.S. Senanayake, Minister of Agriculture and Lands under the State Council system of governance during the penultimate stages of British rule. Senanayake went on to &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=50955\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;First Sinhala Talkie &#8220;Broken Promise&#8221; was Released 70 Years Ago on Jan 21 1947&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50955"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50990,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50955\/revisions\/50990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}