| දෙලොවක් අතර (Delovak Athara) | |
| Director: | Lester James Peries |
| Producer: | Anton Wickremasinghe |
| Starring: | Tony Ranasinghe Suvineetha Weerasinghe Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya Iranganie Serasinghe |
| Music: | W.D. Amaradeva |
| Cinematography: | William Blake |
| Editing: | Sumitra Gunawardana |
| Distributor: | Cinelanka Ltd. |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
| Runtime: | 103 minutes |
| Language: | Sinhala |
| Budget: | 200,000 rupees |
Delovak Athara (Sinhala, Between Two Worlds) is a 1966 Sri Lankan drama film directed by Dr. Lester James Peries, with screenplay, dialogue, and script by Dr. Tissa Abeysekara.[1] The film stars Tony Ranasinghe and Suvineetha Weerasinghe in lead roles, along with Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya and Wijeratne Warakagoda.[2]
Peries developed the movie as a character study, utilizing a single incident to provide insight into the newly rich society of Sri Lanka in the time period. It proved to be his most successful film up to that time, surpassing Gamperaliya in box office earnings. It was also a critical success, winning praise from Sinhala critics like Philip Cooray and making the rounds at European film festivals, including the Valladolid Film Festival in Spain.[3]
The film was re-screened on 21 July 2018 at 4.30 p.m. at the Regal Cinema in Kandy for the Sarasaviya Film Festival.[4]
At the onset of the film, Nissanka (Tony Ranasinghe) is engaged to marry Shiranee (Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya), a woman of the same social class. Nissanka decides to go to a club and asks Shiranee, who politely declines. He thus goes alone and meets an old friend, Chitra (Suwineetha Abeysekera). They rekindle their friendship, and Nissanka offers a ride home. Chitra agrees and they set off only to accidentally hit and kill a pedestrian. The two now have a large secret as they flee the scene. Nissanka's family subsequently attempts to cover up the murder. Chitra is faced with a moral dilemma but doesn't give Nissanka up to the police. She urges him to turn himself in. One man who had seen Nissanka's car when it hit the pedestrian, told the police, the numbers on the number plate. The police inquire into this and question Nissanka too. Nissanka's father tells the police that his servant drew the car and the servant is also questioned by the police. One day the servant sees that the pedestrian has passed away, so he runs away to his village. The policemen go to his village and arrest him. Meanwhile, mounting tensions and conflicts exacerbate the already tense situation, making Nissanka's life unbearable. He finally decides to go to the police with Chitra and confess what he has done.