''Akkara Paha'' (Sinhala, ''Five Acres of Land'') is a

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Dr.

Lester James Peries Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාභිමාන්‍ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter, a ...

, with the screen play dialogue and script by Dr.

Tissa Abeysekara Deshanabu Tissa Ananda Abeysekara (7 May 1939 – 18 April 2009 as තිස්ස අබේසේකර) was a Sri Lankan filmmaker, actor, writer, director, screen playwright and political activist. He is better known as a script writer for th ...

. The film stars Milton Jayawardena as Sena, a young man from a rural society who travels to the city to pursue a higher education and

Malini Fonseka Wanniarachchige Malini Senehelatha Fonseka, popularly as Malini Fonseka ( Sinhala:මාලිනී ෆොන්සේකා) (born 30 April 1947, in Kelaniya) is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television as well as a director. ...

as Kumari. Tissa Abeysekera adapted Madawela S. Ratnayake's book as a follow-up to ''

Golu Hadawatha ''Golu Hadawatha'' (Translation: The Silent Heart) was a popular 1968 Sinhalese language romance movie directed by Maestro Lester James Peiris. Wickrama Bogoda and Anula Karunathilaka acted the lead roles of Sugath and Dhammhi. The movie's story ...

''. The film received a lukewarm response in Sri Lanka, but was well received when shown in New York at the Museum of Modern Art's festival.

Plot

Sena (Milton Jayawardena) is sent to a boarding school at a well-to-do city university by his family who mortgage everything they own to pay for his education. Their future well-being is thus in the hands of Sena. Sena however succumbs to the temptations of city life and fails in his venture. The impoverished family takes on the titular scheme offered by the government to settle the North Central province.

Cast

* Milton Jayawardena as Sena Medawatta * Janaki Kurukulasuriya as Theresa Perera *

as Kumari 'Akka' * Anoma Wattaladeniya as Sandhawathie 'Sandha' * Gamini Wijesuriya as Banda Medawatta 'Thaththa' *

Shanthi Lekha Rita Irene Koys (July 1, 1929 – May 11, 2009), better known as Shanthi Lekha, was a Sri Lankan Film actress. She played the role of mother in more films than any other actress in Sinhala cinema. Personal life Lekha was born in Kalutara on July ...

as Sena's Amma *

Douglas Ranasinghe Morathennage Douglas Ranasinghe (born May 27, 1945, si, ඩග්ලස් රණසිංහ), is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater, and television. He acted in many supportive roles in movies including ''Akkara Paha'', ''Yuganthaya'', '' ...

as Samarasena 'Samarey' * Sriyani Perera as Sujatha Gajanayake * Shirani Kurukulasuriya as Leena Perera *

Ruby de Mel Ruby Jasmine de Mel (born as රූබි ද මැල්) inhala 4 December 1917 – 8 November 2004) was a Sri lankan film actress in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. One of the earliest pillars in Sri Lankan film history, de M ...

as Mrs. Perera 'Mamma' * Basil de Saram as Ranjith Perera *

Seetha Kumari Seetha Kumari Ehelepola (born 9 May 1940 – died 7 August 2013 as සීතා කුමාරි ඇහැලේපොළ) inhala, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. One of the earliest pillars in Sri Lankan film hi ...

as Sandha's Amma *

Amarasiri Kalansuriya Amarasiri Kalansuriya, (born 20 September 1940: si, අමරසිරි කලංසූරිය), popularly known as Kalan, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television. Kalansuriya made his first film appearance alongside Vijaya ...

as Gunapala *

Wijeratne Warakagoda Rajakaruna Navaratne Atapattu Mudiyanselage Wijeratne Banda Warakagoda (Born 21 November 1933; as si, විජේරත්න වරකාගොඩ), popularly as Wijeratne Warakagoda, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and televisi ...

as Teacher * Mapa Gunaratne as Loku Iskola Mahattaya *

Lionel Deraniyagala Lionel Danthanarayana (born 24 August 1940 – died 30 July 1994 as ලයනල් දැරණියගල) inhala, popularly as stage name Lionel Deraniyagala, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema and theater. One of the most popular villain a ...

as Doctor

References

External links

Sri Lanka Cinema Database
* 1969 films Films directed by Lester James Peries Films set in Sri Lanka (1948–present) 1969 drama films Sri Lankan drama films {{SriLanka-film-stub