Bambaru Awith - Udumbara Hinahenawa,….Thawamath!

Speaking about his award-winning song 'Udumbara Hinahenawa' that he composed for Dharmasena Pathiraja's Bambaru Awith, Maestro Khemadasa once said how he was inspired by the French composer, Claude Debussy who initiated the music style, Impressionism. The theme song for Bambaru Awith, he said, was his attempt in that impressionist style to musically interpret ‘the ocean’, which set the background for the movie being the source of  livelihood of the fishing community.

Having just enjoyed the recently restored digital version of the movie on MUBI I must say that Maestro Khemadasa surely has kept to his word exceptionally well. For a good couple of hours, the movie held me spellbound, taking me back to my youth, unknowingly, to the time we were chasing work of master filmmakers that we had in abundance at the time, with our endless thirst for ‘art films’. Moreover, it brought back memories of my study of 'Pathiraja' films, at the University as 'Revolutionary Sinhala Cinema'. I wish I could remember what I wrote about Bambaru Awith, 40 years ago……

For a film shot in Black & White in the late 70s, Bambaru Awith certainly was a masterpiece that went beyond the conventional melodramatic storytelling style, to one that aimed at revealing social reality. In his award-winning film Pathiraja cleverly depicts the tragedy encountered by the poor fishing community settled around the Kalpitiya bay, with the invasion of the ‘urban rich’, threatening their self-reliant socio-economic fabric. Beautifully crafted frames, cinematically blended with long, medium or close shots & lighting, speak of the mastery in film making & cinematography (by Donald Karunaratne) that drew world attention to Sri Lankan Cinema that time.

Pathi’s cinematic ‘touch’ is written all over the film brought to life by the performances by star actors and actresses in the likes of Malani, Wijaya, Cyril, Wimal, Kalansuriya & Daya along with Joe who was outstanding in his role as Antony. Who would forget those powerful dialogue lines written by Pathi himself, which echoed in our years for decades,  "Theresa…, umbala pravesam veyalla bambaru awith..”. 

Hats off to all those who spent hours bringing back to life a masterpiece movie that had been falling apart in its original 35mm reels for decades to such a standard and quality. If I may quote, Chew Tee Pao from his article, ‘Restoring Bambaru Awith (Wasps are Here)’, “Even from the poor resolution and heavily watermarked copy, it was evident that Pathi displayed a sensitivity and aesthetic brilliance, from the cinematography to the directed intensely poetic performances.”

I am sure many contemporary filmmakers and film enthusiasts would have greatly missed Pathi, the Gentle Giant of Sinhala cinema, on that day in 2020 when it was screened as a Cannes Classic at the 73rd Cannes Film Festival. Many Thanks to the Pathiraja family for their enthusiasm in bringing this masterpiece back to life, a movie that is reminiscent of the past glory of Sinhala Cinema.