Sinhabahu

I have had a fondness for the Gal Enna Bindala song from the Sinhabahu play since childhood. I don't believe I have watched the play, but once upon a time when I was just a kid and my parents were still youthful, my mother may have liked this play and spoken about it to us. That may have been the deciding factor for me to have made up my mind to go and watch this movie on a Sunday morning.

I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the story of Sinhabahu and felt happy this was made into a movie so that it becomes more accessible for people like me who watch Netflix and YouTube.

I like to think the late Saraschandra would have dipped into the well of the colonial Buddhist and that the story is in fact an investigation on moral relativism in a time the country was being transformed by the hands of the colonists. But since this would have been controversial he may have instead used the period of transformation the country went through at the hands of the Indian conquerors as a facade to tell the story. I comprehended the scenes like the breaking down of the len dhora (cave door) by the Sinhabahu and the instructions by the Sinhaya on constructing the fence to keep the animals away as metaphor. Where the former represents the indignation the young feel in their immaturity towards immortality of the conquerors. And if the step taken out of indignation is a step taken out of place from the grand narrative it can bring you pain.

The dialogue was witty and the fact that it was done in an almost forgotten Sinhalese dialect is mentally stimulating. The filmography and the locations were great. I thought the actors and actresses did a great job except in one scene where the Sinhaya actor says that a crown should not be given even to the son of the king if the son is not of sound mind. The actor may have drawn a little too hard from personal conviction when he delivered this line. I found this displeasing because I suspect a false narrative is being fed to certain demographics in Sri Lanka and that it is the responsibility of those who are playing frontline jobs in the media to be ethical and just. Case and point, I walked into the movie theater half an hour early, I bought my ticket and left the theater to get a coffee. 25 minutes later when I got back to the theater, I am stopped at the security checkpoint and the guard shoves me, restricts my movements and tells another guard, "deveni parata enna" as if a double is walking around tarnishing my name using my rapport like the plot of many a western pieces of fiction.

Dialogue delivery of Sinhaya which is performed by akita danundara is just pathetic only sajitha Anthony did a fair job while other dialogues in the movie are pathetic to an extent where strength of the lion we've been told diminished to a mere joke. And they unnecessarily try to justify the incest relationship which sinhabahu had with her own sister sinhaseevali. Overall directing of the movie was not good where at the scene of the Sinhaya fighting with his own son sinhabahu where he says mage Putha was the worst scene in the entire movie.i don't recommend anyone to go and watch this movie in cinema by wasting money just watch it on tv once it is actually aired 😂

I'm posting this review from the movie theater even before the interval.

This movie was such a terrible experience overall. It tries justify kidnapping and incest and fails spectacularly. The movie is so cringe. I do not know what the director was even thinking making this nonsense. I was so excited to see this as I love exploring ancient history of our country.

The acting is subpar at best and most scenes makes no sense. The dialogue is laughable and everything rhymes!!!

Please don't waste your time and money watching this nonsense. The resolution is also not so great although that maybe a fault of the movie theater.

A Sri Lankan Alabama story not a family movie!

Siblings (Brother and Sister) watch this movie together will need years of therapy!

The whole movie is so dumb so its kinds fun to watch!

Could have done a way better story with the cast!

Dusheni was brilliant! The script is really awkward, but she made the awkward story a bit good!

Really sad that someone like Somaratne Dissanayake ended up creating a dull movie like this!

So many unwanted stuff! Rubbish jokes! (actual movie dialogs were way funnier than forced jokes) the whole story could have been done within 30 mins! Yet they dragged the story with un needed stuff!

Disappointed!

If you want know about original story you can read mahawamsa. This movie not presenting original story of sinhabahu.

Otherwise it's like typical kings story ...iam not surprised 🙂 I gave this movie only 3 or 4 Stars beacuse of not presenting original story in mahawamsa. History can be unreal but we have to allow it remain as it is..if not All story, tales of the history will recreate like new version of thkat story ..story 2.0 🌝 In orginal story sinhabahus' father not human he is Lion ok it unreal..in orginal story sunhabahu married his sister sinhaseevali but it not impossible... besides these storyline change it just another srilankan movie.