''Nidhanaya'' ( en, The Treasure) is a 1972

Sinhalese language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also s ...

film 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 ...

, the screen play, dialog 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 ...

, starring

Gamini Fonseka Kala Keerthi Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka () (21 March 1936 - 30 September 2004 as :si:ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා, ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා), was a Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan film actor, film director ...

and Malini Fonseka. The film stars

and Malini Fonseka in lead role along with

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 ...

, Saman Bokalawela and

Trilicia Gunawardena Trelicia Abeykoon (born 14 October 1934 – died 26 April 1999 as ට්‍රිලිෂියා ගුණවර්ධන)), popularly as Trelicia or Trilicia Gunawardena, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television as well a ...

in supportive roles. Movie is based on a short story written by G.B.Senanayake in one of his short story collection known as "The Revenge". It revolves around a murder which is committed for the purpose of gaining access to a hidden treasure. The film won the Silver Lion of St. Mark award at the 1972 Venice International Film Festival and was also selected as one of the outstanding films of the year, receiving a Diploma, at the London Film Festival. It was also chosen as the best film of the first 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema and was included among the top 100 films of the century by the

Cinémathèque Française The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers ...

. Gamini Fonseka and Lester James Peries Cinematic relationship of an actor and director
by D. B. S. Jeyaraj, (

Daily FT The ''Daily FT'' or the ''Daily Financial Times'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Colombo, Sri Lanka, by Wijeya Newspapers. Its sister newspaper ''The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)'' and its Sunday counterpart ''Sunday Times'' are a ...

, 18 October 2014), Retrieved 03-05-2018

Synopsis

A man known as Willy Abenayake (

) who belongs to a wealthy family in a village in Sri Lanka, is interested in superstitious things. One day he finds an old

Ola Leaf Ola leaf is a palm leaf used for writing in traditional palm-leaf manuscripts and in fortunetelling (horoscopes) in Southern India and Sri Lanka. The leaves are from the talipot tree, a type of palm, and fortunes are written on them and read by fo ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

, which states the whereabouts of a treasure in a rock cave that belongs to an ancient king. However, according to the manuscript, he has to

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

the life of a

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

woman who has four black birth marks in her neck, in order to gain access to the treasure. One day when he walk by a river, he accidentally comes across a young lady ( Malini Fonseka), who has four black birth marks in her neck. After following the lady and collecting information about her, he decides to marry her. He eventually marries the lady and spends time with her. In the meantime, the lady notices that her husband always spends time thinking. One day she asks him as to what keeps the man thinking all the time. He replies that he has to do a religious custom to a god in a rock. So, his wife agrees with him and thereby arranges everything for it. After going to the rock, the man starts to fulfill the custom and finally he kills his wife as a sacrifice, with the hope of gaining access to the hidden treasure. But, unfortunately he is yet unable to get the treasure. Sadly he comes home and decides to write the complete story, in his diary. After completing the story, he commits

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

by hanging himself.

Cast

as Wilson 'Willie' Abeynayake * Malini Fonseka as Irene Abeynayake * Francis Perera as Juwanis * Saman Bokalawala as Mudliyar 'Julius' * Mapa Gunaratne as Doctor *

as Irene's Amma *

as Dulcie * Thilakasiri Fernando as Diyonis 'Gurunnanse' * J. B. L. Gunasekera as Willie's Thaththa *

Thalatha Gunasekara Abeykoon Mudiyanselage Thalatha Abeykoon (born 17 July 1937 – died 17 September 2003 as si, තලතා ගුණසේකර) inhala, popularly as Thalatha Gunasekara, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema. She is the mother of popular actre ...

as Willie's childhood nanny * Kumarasinghe Appuhamy as Thelanis 'Gurunnanse' * K. L. Coranelis Appuhamy as Willie's Aiyya * Barry Whittington as MacNeal *

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 Silva * Devika Karunaratne as Royal coronation birthmark possessor

Restoration

In 2013, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur has collaborated with the

World Cinema Foundation The World Cinema Project (WCP), formerly World Cinema Foundation, is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and restoration of neglected world cinema, founded by Martin Scorsese. History Founded in 2007 as the World Cinema Founda ...

(WCF) for the restoration of the film. The film won the Silver Lion at the 1972 Venice International Film Festival. Dr. Peries’ films are in a poor condition and many of the original camera negatives have been lost. This restoration is a joint effort of the WCF, the Sri Lankan National Film Corporation, Mr. Padmarajah (the copyright holder), and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) and Sameera Randeniya of Film Team, Sri Lanka.

External links

National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka - Official WebsiteOfficial Website of Lester James Peries in association with Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Sri Lanka
*

References

{{reflist 1972 films 1970s Sinhala-language films 1972 drama films Films directed by Lester James Peries Films set in Sri Lanka (1948–present) Sri Lankan drama films