''Aloko Udapadi'' (; ; ) is a 2017 Sinhala epic

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

film based on the story of King Valagamba of

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

(89 – 77

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

). It was co-directed by Chathra Weeraman and Baratha Hettiarachchi produced by Thusitha Wijayasena for Art Movies. The screenplay was written by Saman Weeraman. The film stars

Uddika Premarathna Uddika Premarathna (born 16 September 1980; උද්දික ප්‍රේමරත්න) is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema and television. Apart from acting, he is also a singer, TV announcer and a member of parliament. Personal life He i ...

Dilhani Ekanayake Dilhani Ashokamala Ekanayake ( si, දිල්හානි ඒකනායක; born 4 March 1970) is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. One of the most popular film actresses in Sinhala cinema, Ekanayake has won several ...

, Nirosha Thalagala, Menaka Peiris and

Roshan Ravindra Roshan may refer to: People * Roshan (music director) (1917–1967), Indian musician and music director, born Roshan Lal Nagrath * Hrithik Roshan (born 1974), Hindi film actor, son of Rakesh Roshan * Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan (1980–2012), Iranian n ...

. It is the 1268th Sri Lankan film in the Sinhalese cinema. ''Aloko Udapadi'' was released on 20 January 2017 in EAP Circuit Cinemas. The film was praised by the critics for its action sequences and the performances of the cast. It successfully passed 100 days in theatres as well.

Plot

The film revolves around the story of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

's dispensation in written form after long centuries of

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

in a turbulent historical context. King Valagamba was overthrown five months after his coronation by a rebellion and invasion from

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

, but regained the throne after fourteen years by defeating the invaders. Walagamba, the central character in the film, ascended to the throne in 103 BCE and was the fourth son of King

Saddha Tissa Saddha Tissa was the king of Anuradhapura ( Sri Lanka) from 137 BC to 119 BC. Saddha Tissa was the son of Kavan Tissa of Ruhuna and the brother of Dutthagamani. He was the ruler of Digamadulla, the present day eastern province of Sri Lanka. Si ...

, younger brother to King

Dutugamunu Dutugamunu the Great (, , also spelled as ''Dutthagamani''), also known as Dutthagamani Abhaya ("fearless Gamini"), was the greatest king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom who reigned from 161 BC to 137 BC. He is renowned for reuniting the whole island ...

. Walagamba became king at a time when the kingdom was under multiple threats. Walagamba's first period of rule was shattered in three months by Cholian invaders. The film recreates the efforts to preserve the sacred heritage of the Buddha's teaching and marks an important chapter in the development of the Buddhist faith.

Cast

as King Walagamba *

as Queen Consort Anula * Nirosha Thalagala as Royal Consort Somadevi * Sammu Kashun as Godaththa Thero *

as Theeya Brahmin * Menaka Peiris as Chola wife * Mauli Maheesha as Prince Chulika * Nayana Manujitha as Prince Mahanaga * Dineth de Silva as Minister Uththiya * Ajith Kumara as Minister Pabbatha * Nihal Fernando as

Pulahatta The Five Dravidian were five Tamil Chiefs apparently from the Pandyan Dynasty who ruled the Anuradhapura Kingdom for 14 years from 103 BC to 88 BC. Background Before the Five Dravidians invaded the island, the Anuradhapura Kingdom was ru ...

* Kapila Sigera as Bahiya * Dilip Manohara as

Panya Mara The Five Dravidian were five Tamil Chiefs apparently from the Pandyan Dynasty who ruled the Anuradhapura Kingdom for 14 years from 103 BC to 88 BC. Background Before the Five Dravidians invaded the island, the Anuradhapura Kingdom was rule ...

Cletus Mendis Gammada Liyanage Cletus Paulinus Mendis, popularly as Cletus Mendis (born July 17, 1949 as ක්ලීටස් මෙන්ඩිස් Sinhala) is a Sri Lankan actor, mainly works in cinema and television. He has received a number of awards ...

Pilaya Mara The Five Dravidian were five Tamil Chiefs apparently from the Pandyan Dynasty who ruled the Anuradhapura Kingdom for 14 years from 103 BC to 88 BC. Background Before the Five Dravidians invaded the island, the Anuradhapura Kingdom was ru ...

Darshan Dharmaraj Darshan Dharmaraj ( ta, தர்ஷன் தர்மராஜ், si, දර්ශන් ධර්මරාජ්; 2 March 1981 – 2 October 2022) was a Sri Lankan actor in film, theatre and television. He made his first television appear ...

Dathika The Five Dravidian were five Tamil Chiefs apparently from the Pandyan Dynasty who ruled the Anuradhapura Kingdom for 14 years from 103 BC to 88 BC. Background Before the Five Dravidians invaded the island, the Anuradhapura Kingdom was ru ...

* W. Jayasiri as Jain Nighantha Giri *

Buddhadasa Vithanarachchi Buddhadasa Vithanarachchi (born 30 June 1947 as බුද්ධදාස විතානාරච්චි) inhala is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. He is also a former member of the political party National Freedom ...

as Chief monk Mahatissa *

Janak Premalal Lokupathirage Janak Premalal (born May 15, 1959 as ජනක් ප්‍රේමලාල්) inhala, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. Highly versatile actor dominated in television, he has acted in more than 20 ...

as Regional Sinhalese king * Sammu Kasun as Godatta Thero * Rajasinghe Loluwagoda as Chulasiva Thero * Sirisena Pallewatte as Isidatta Thero * Indika Madurage as Mahasona Thero *

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 Thanasiva * Sunil Weerasinghe as Astrologist *

Nethalie Nanayakkara Kalabushana Nethalie Violet Nanayakkara (born 26 December 1936 as නෙතලි නානායක්කාර) inhala, popularly as Nethalie Nanayakkara, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. One of the earliest pillar ...

as Elderly mother

Production

Filming

Shooting of the film began in

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 ...

. Additional filming was scheduled in

Kalpitiya Kalpitiya (, ) is a coastal town located in western region of, Puttalam District. The Kalpitiya peninsula consists of a total fourteen islands. It is developing as a tourist destination. Etymology Scholars identify the Sinhalese name "Kalapi ...

and Teldeniya, a town in central province in

and lasted 62 days.

Development

For the first time in the Sri Lankan film-making, a concept called "production designing" has been introduced. This is in order to mix up every design aspect and to take them into a common ground. Inclusion of visual components was followed to create character profiles with determining their character elements. The film has four group of characters including king and the countrymen, Cholian Invaders, the Brahmins and Maha Sangha. This process is done to design character concepts.

Post-production

Chathra Weeraman personally supervised the film's visual effects. He studied visual effects and animation at the Multimedia University in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Digital set extensions were used in filming palaces and battle camps in the film. 3D technology has been used in with photography and matte paintings. Computer-Generated Images (CGI) technology has been used in the film by VFX team. In color grading process of the film met some difficulties due to the lack of available technology in Sri Lanka. The director had to solve these difficulties from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

specially colorization process.

References

External links

* *
ආලෝකෝ උදපාදී ඉන්දීය උලෙළෙන් ලෝකය හමුවට

මට උවමනා වුණේ හරි දෙයක් කරන්නයි

ඇය දුන් සහායට ඇයට දෙන ත්‍යාගයයි
{{Sinhala cinema, state=collapsed 2017 films Films set in the Anuradhapura period Historical epic films Sri Lankan historical films 2010s historical films 2010s Sinhala-language films Sri Lankan epic films