Hithumathe Jeewithe

Hithumathe Jeewithe (The Wandering Life) (Sinhala: හිතුමතේ ජීවිතේ) is an unreleased Sri Lankan Sinhala biographical thriller film directed by Chrishantha Manamperi as his debut direction and produced by Vihara Samarasinghe. It stars Dineth de Silva in lead role as titular character along with Mahendra Perera and Kumara Thirimadura. Music composed by Sagara Wijesinghe.[1]

Hithumathe Jeewithe
හිතුමතේ ජීවිතේ
Directed byChrishantha Manamperi
Produced byVihara Samarasinghe
Written byIndika Rupasinghe
Based onTrue story
StarringDineth de Silva
Mahendra Perera
Jagath Chamila
Kumara Thirimadura
Music bySagara Wijesinghe
CinematographyNishantha Pradeep
Edited byRukmal Nirosh
CountrySri Lanka
LanguageSinhala

The film qualified for the 19th Dhaka International Film Festival which will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 16 to 24 January 2021. It is also the first international film festival to represent by the film. It is to be screened under the non-competitive category of 'World Cinema Division'.[2]

Background

The following is quoted from ‘Real life tragic drama at Dhaka Film Festival’ written by S. Fernando for the Sunday Times.

Batuge Don Sumathipala who became well known as 'Hithumathe Jeewithe' based on the same words marked across his chest was a murder convict who was serving on the death row in Sri Lankan prisons. At the age of 17, he was made a criminal by the urge to avenge the gang rape and brutal murder of his school-going sister. Those responsible for this heinous crimes were none other than the Headquarters Inspector (HQI) of Kalutara Police, the school Principal, a politician and a few others. Served with several death sentences, Sumathipala was in prison for over four decades, escaping seven times finally receiving a Presidential pardon.

His criminal record was special as he was sentenced to death on four occasions based on the 'crimes' of killing members of a group which gang raped and murdered his younger sister. Through the brutish rapist and killers escaped the system of justice, they could not do so from the loving brother of the sister they killed.

Hailing from a small hamlet off Kalutara, Sumathipala's sister was crowned as the Beauty Queen of the village's Sinhala New Year Festival in 1972. But subsequent to this the HQI of Kalutara, who was the chief guest at the event followed the young girl who refused his congratulatory wish with a kiss. Enraged by this, the brutish police officer abducted the young girl with the support of those 'respectable leaders' in the area, school principal, GramaSevaka and a politician. She was gang raped and killed and her body was burnt to destroy all the evidence. Sumathipala who was just 17 years then visited the Police Station and killed the HQI on the spot and beheaded him. He carried the HQI's head and handed it over to the Superintendent of Police in the area. The result, he was convicted and sentenced to death in 1975. However Sumathipala escaped from the prison on seven occasions and killed the rest of the killers of his sister.[3]

Cast

Production

The story was from the seventies so the crew had to make a new set. Therefore, they created all the scenes in the city of Colombo anew. In addition to areas such as Colombo Fort, it was also filmed in areas such as Kuliyapitiya and Giriulla. Shooting completed at the end of 2019. The film was supposed to be released a year ago. But it took a long time because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

References
  1. "The supreme brotherly love of society". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  2. ""Hithumathe Jeewithe" to Dhaka International Film Festival". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  3. Susitha Fernando (2020). ‘Real life tragic drama at Dhaka Film Festival’, The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka, 27, December, 2020. Available at: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/ (Accessed: 28 December 2020).
  4. ""Hithumathe Jeewithe" brought to the screen by an Air Force officer". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
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