A star-studded and big budget Sinhalese film on Kannagi, the feisty heroine of the Tamil classic Silappadhikaram, is set to hit the screens across Sri Lanka soon.

Titled Paththini, as Kannagi is known in Lanka, the film is directed by Prof Sunil Ariyaratne, a veteran with 20 feature films under his belt. South Indian star Pooja Umashankar, a heartthrob of the Sinhalese masses, is playing Kannagi. Former Miss Sri Lanka, Aruni Rajapakse is Madhavi the seductress and Uddika Premaratne will take up the role of the wayward and troubled Kovalan.

“I am very fond of Tamil literature, especially Silappadhikaram and Manimekalai. Ever since I visited Tamil Nadu in the 1980s, I have been wanting to make films based on these classics,” Ariyaratne said, explaining the theme choice.

But the choice should not come as a surprise because in Lanka, Silappadhikaram is identified with Buddhism and Jainism. As Paththini, Kannagi is worshipped by Sinhalese-Buddhists as a savior of women in distress, a Goddess of Fertility.
(The New Indian Express)