Seda Sulang (Sinhala: සැඩසුළං), is a 1955 Sri Lankan romantic musical film directed and produced by Thambiraja Somasekaran for Ceylon Films Limited. The film starred Florida Jayalath and Prem Jayanth in lead roles whereas Dommie Jayawardena and David Dharmakeerthi made supportive roles.^[1]

Cast

• Florida Jayalath as Seetha
• Prem Jayanth as Sunil
• Dommie Jayawardena as Eddie
• David Dharmakeerthi as Sir Edward Palipana
• Rosalyn Fernando as Mrs. Palipana
• Sujatha Paramanathan as Eddie's wife
• Lilian Edirisinghe
• Piyadasa Gunasekera as Anton
• Richard Albert as Rodaya
• Sunil Premadasa as Rasthiyadu
• Mohideen Baig as Beggar
• Dharma Sri Ranatunga as Edward
• Shanti Abeysekara as Dancing teacher
• Daya Abeysekara as Young Sunil
• Padmini Dahanayake as Young Seetha
• Bimba Kumari as Leela
• T. Somasekaran
• M. P. Gilman

Production

The film was filmed at the Vahini Studio in Madras, where Somasekaran included several scenes from Sri Lanka such as the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, the Parliament in Colombo, Independence Memorial Hall and the Kadugannawa Binge. They were captured on camera by Indian cameraman Raj Gopal. It is also the first and only Sinhala film where a song was sung by Indian singer Latha Mangeshkar.^[2]

The film premiered in Ceylon Theaters on June 24, 1955. It has been screened for 23 months and 2 months at the Elphinston Cinema Hall in Maradana alone. Until then, advertisements were most widely used in Sinhala cinema in this film. In addition, a calendar with a color photo of Florida sells for 50 cents and a postcard-size photo for 25 cents. On May 5, 1955, the Mayor of Colombo, Dr. N. M. Perera, distributed prizes at Galle Face Green at 9 am at the 'Sada Sulang' Bicycle Competition.^[2] The film was screened again on 17 December 1977 with 7 copies.^[3]

In violation of the agreement and played its aristocratic statue in the film by Dommie Jayawardena, Somasekaran took action against him to lodge a complaint in the Madras court. It was alleging that Dommie acted in the film Radala Piliruwa by breaking the agreement with Film Ceylon and had not come to work on the film without any notice since September 10, 1954, and that he had contracted with Cinemas Ltd. However, Somasekaran's complaint was dismissed subject to legal fees.^[4]

Soundtrack

The film recorded 17 songs, which is by far the highest number of songs consisted in a Sinhala film.^[3]

References