Kadawunu Poronduwa (Sinhala: කඩවුනු පොරොන්දුව, "The Broken Promise") was the first film to be made in the Sinhala language; it is generally considered to have heralded the coming of Sinhala Cinema. The film was produced and filmed in India however, and was highly influenced by South Indian melodrama. It was first shown on January 21, 1947, at the Kingsley Cinema in Colombo, Sri Lanka.[1]
Ralahamy, a member of high status, dies leaving his family in debt after having squandered his fortune through extensive drinking and other vices. To get back into wealth, Ralahamy's wife Tackla pushes her daughter Ranjani to marry a wealthy older man Victor with a child through an earlier marriage. In this process, Samson, Ranjani's boyfriend, who had tried extensively to get the family back into good graces going so far as to pay off their debts, is spurned. He then goes abroad to win a fortune.
When Samson returns he learns of Ranjani's engagement to Victor and tries to reach her through letter. His letters are hidden from her however, and rumours spread that Samson is now a cripple. Ultimately the truth is revealed.
Cast
Rukmani Devi as Ranjani: A high-class girl who is pushed into a marriage with an older man and forced to reject her boyfriend.
Gemini Kantha as Jossie: village woman; love interest of Manappuwa
Rupa Devi as Tackla: Ranjani's mother
Miriam Jayamanne as Hilda
Eddie Jayamanne as Manappuwa: naive village simpleton; comic relief
B. A. W. Jayamanne as Samson: Ranjani's love interest; wants financial success for her family but is spurned by the mother
Peter Peries as Victor: old wealthy man with whom Ranjani is forcibly engaged
Stanley Mallawarachchi as Hemapala
D. T. Perera as Jayasena
Asilyn Balasooriya as Sumana
J. B. Perera as Harmahana
Hugo Fernando as doctor
Suriya Rani as Aaya
Sina Pishpani as Narsi
Wida Soyza
S. S. Ponnisena
Production
Kadawunu Poronduwa was produced by S. M. Nayagam,[1] a pioneer of Sinhala film industry and an Indian citizen. He had to ferry the entire cast to Madurai India for filming and production. It began as a successful play for dramatist B. A. W. Jayamanne. In 1947 he filmed and processed the movie in South India.[2]
Kadawunu Poronduwa produced a formula that Sinhala films would follow up through the 1960s; Jayamanne describes the formula as such:[2]
The duration of a film had to be two and a half hours. One hour of this had to be given to scenes with dialogue. Half an hour to songs (about ten), another half-hour given to silent background scenes, with an interval of fifteen minutes.
"Sundari Rupa Rajini" – Stanley Mallawarachchi and Peter Peries
"Papi Shayapi Do" – Rukmani Devi and Hugo Fernando / Stanley Mallawarachchi
Songs of Kadawunu Poronduwa were issued by Parlophone gramophone records with the film release in 1947. They were the last records issued by the Palophone label in Sri Lanka.[a]
