Neera, a One-Sided Sinhalese Movie
This review contains spoilers.
A few weeks ago I went to watch Wasawa Baduge’s 2025 romance drama “Neera”. I thought there were aspects of the movie worth praising. Such as its use of metaphor (like the pen pal relationship), believable chemistry between the two main actors, and witty dialogue that I thought the common Sri Lankan can relate to such as “kiyai thamai akurak naara” or “hoda awadhiyen, nirantharayen awadhiyen” or my favorite “dekama ekai”. Though I enjoyed the movie I couldn’t help but walk out of the movie theater with disapproval for it.
The movie starts with Megha (the protagonist) planning a protest with a group of university students, symbols that imply communist affiliation are seen in the background. The line “monawa keewath athulata ganna epa” is heard. A few minutes later the protagonist is seen demanding proper compensation for being terminated from his post. This scene made me wonder if the scriptwriter wanted the audience to think such individuals are used as puppets to oppress outsiders. Even if this may be the case, by including the scene in the movie it implicitly justifies human rights abuse.
My main concern though is with the movie's ending. We learn the pen pal the protagonist loved as a youth and had harbored feelings for ever since was actually his wife. But we are also shown (earlier) how the wife’s family advises her to wait till he shames himself in front of society before she acts on her impulse to leave him, because society will blame her if not. And this is exactly what happens. The protagonist makes a fool of himself, and he is seen taking the blame for their failed marriage. In my opinion this ending is too culturally assimilative (because Megha is shown to come from a relatively poor conservative native family while his wife comes from a richer mixed colonial family with the know-how). The script writer’s decision to write in dialogue like “monawa kiwath athulata ganna epa” heard at the start of the movie implies this same ideological stand. As a multi-cultural nation with ambitions of cultural pluralism, the makers of this movie should be ashamed of promoting such one-sided ideas on the silver screen.
Dumidu Handakumbura © 2026.
A few weeks ago I went to watch Wasawa Baduge’s 2025 romance drama “Neera”. I thought there were aspects of the movie worth praising. Such as its use of metaphor (like the pen pal relationship), believable chemistry between the two main actors, and witty dialogue that I thought the common Sri Lankan can relate to such as “kiyai thamai akurak naara” or “hoda awadhiyen, nirantharayen awadhiyen” or my favorite “dekama ekai”. Though I enjoyed the movie I couldn’t help but walk out of the movie theater with disapproval for it.
The movie starts with Megha (the protagonist) planning a protest with a group of university students, symbols that imply communist affiliation are seen in the background. The line “monawa keewath athulata ganna epa” is heard. A few minutes later the protagonist is seen demanding proper compensation for being terminated from his post. This scene made me wonder if the scriptwriter wanted the audience to think such individuals are used as puppets to oppress outsiders. Even if this may be the case, by including the scene in the movie it implicitly justifies human rights abuse.
My main concern though is with the movie's ending. We learn the pen pal the protagonist loved as a youth and had harbored feelings for ever since was actually his wife. But we are also shown (earlier) how the wife’s family advises her to wait till he shames himself in front of society before she acts on her impulse to leave him, because society will blame her if not. And this is exactly what happens. The protagonist makes a fool of himself, and he is seen taking the blame for their failed marriage. In my opinion this ending is too culturally assimilative (because Megha is shown to come from a relatively poor conservative native family while his wife comes from a richer mixed colonial family with the know-how). The script writer’s decision to write in dialogue like “monawa kiwath athulata ganna epa” heard at the start of the movie implies this same ideological stand. As a multi-cultural nation with ambitions of cultural pluralism, the makers of this movie should be ashamed of promoting such one-sided ideas on the silver screen.
Dumidu Handakumbura © 2026.
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