BAHU BARYA

A married couple desperate to conceive a child of their own is given an unexpected solution to their dilemma. The husband's adulterous affair with another married woman results in the birth of an illegitimate child. The husband proposes that he and his wife permanently raise the new born, under the stipulation that she (the mistress) promises to never see her child and accepts the monetary compensation provided. But this agreement is broken and the story takes a dramatic turn for the worst.

This film is written and directed by Udayakantha Warnasooriya and features Ranjan Ramanayake (Kapila: the husband), Wasanthi Chathurani (Navoda: the wife) and Sangeetha Weeraratne (Theja: the mistress).

The plot is probably the only redeeming quality in the entire film. The themes are mature, adult oriented and quite relevant. The story moves at a brisk and steady pace. Unfortunately the screenplay does not compliment the interesting plot. The dialogue is melodramatic and mediocre at best. For complicated situations the characters do not have many thought provoking conversations.

The cinematography is extremely poor for a film made in the past decade. Unnecessary close-ups and jerking the camera were repeated mistakes. Probably the most unforgivable blunder was during a love making scene; where a close-up of Theja's breasts are photographed with a black background and immediately cut-to a medium-shot with a white background (white coloured paint on walls). This lack of photographic continuity is amateurish. I don't know what's worse, the above error or the use of a pair of ridiculous prosthetic fake female breasts in that scene. Either use real breasts (the actress’s or a body double’s) or simply don’t show breasts. But to show something out of puppet show is simply insulting the audiences' intelligence.

Veteran actress' Wasanthi Chathurani and Sangeetha Weeraratne stand out in their designated roles. Suitable casting of the two female characters can be attributed to their poignant performances. But what stands out like a sore thumb is the ridiculous and wooden portrayal of the 'Kapila' character by Ramanayake. Overdramatic reactions and exclaimed expressions are a few of Ramanayake's acting traits, neither one should he be proud of. It seems that he is incapable of portraying complex emotions which are needed in many of the intricate scenes. It is clearly evident that being a ‘Movie Star’ doesn't necessarily make one a ‘Professional Actor’. The immortal words of the late-great Mr. Bruce Lee come to mind in what was missing, "We need emotional content!"

Part of the blame for Ramanayake's absurd acting falls upon the director; Warnasooriya. The director fails to mold his leading male actor, which proves detrimental to the end product. There are many scenes that required deeper reactions from the characters. The lack of hesitation during the first marital infidelity, the lack of remorse when Kapila accidentally pushes Theja off a cliff and the lack of guilt in Kapila when his wife finds out about his cheating ways are examples of blatant directing inaccuracies.

The original score by Dulip Gabadamudalige is intolerably inappropriate, not to mention the songs by Samitha Mudunkotuwa and Athula Adikari. Sound mixing and dubbing are a complete mismatch with the visuals. Bahu Bharya is a poor man's Sri Lankan version of 'Fatal Attraction'. Although there are many reasons for the downfall of this film to its English counterpart the most noticeable one is that Ranjan is no Michael Douglas.

Rating: 1/5

S. V. Fernando