Gehenu Lamai is a 1978 Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

n drama movie directed by Sumitra Peries

Sumitra Peries

Sumitra Peries is a Sri Lankan filmmaker and Sri Lanka's Ambassadar to France in late 1990s. Her most popular film is Ganga Addara and married to a famous film director Lester James Peries.-Early life:...

. It introduced actress Vasantha Chathurani and was a critical and box office success.

Plot

Kusum witnesses Nimal leading a procession into their village.

Kusum then recalls her childhood spent with friend Nimal. She is taught by the older boy. Kusum then starts boarding school with a transition to her at an older age. She gains a friend in Podmini who admires Kusum's innocence.

When Kusum visits home, she takes to helping out at the home of Nimal's mother, Mrs. Satharasinghe. On one such visit Nimal engages Kusum in a relationship. They fall in love though Kusum starts to feel guilty due to her lower class status. Soma is chosen to be part of a beauty contest and Kusum and Nimal take the chance to spend time together.

Mrs. Satharasinghe finds out about the encounter and confronts Kusum causing her to reveal her relationship with Nimal. Mrs. Satharasinghe scolds her and relieves her of her duties helping out at their home. Driven by guilt, Kusum breaks off all contact with Nimal. Soma, meanwhile, gets pregnant and is abandoned by the father. Kusum starts to take care of the child.

Nimal becomes a teacher at Kusum's school causing them to come in contact again. She tries to keep their encounters formal though at the prodding of Podmini takes some notes from him ahead of another girl. The girl bullies Kusum before Podmini comes to her rescue. Kusum then rejects Nimal's help.

The story then returns to the present with Nimal arriving at the village. Kusum reveals she failed to get into college and is now unemployed. She questions if this is her fate.

Cast

• Vasanthi Chathurani
  Vasanthi Chathurani
  Vasanthi Chathurani is an award-winning Sri Lankan film and teledrama actress. She made her debut as a teenager in Sumitra Peiris's Gehenu Lamai in 1978. Her most acclaimed role in the silver screen was that of 'Nirmala' in Ganga Addara opposite late Vijaya Kumaratunga in 1980...
  
  as Kusum Liyanage: A girl from a lower class family who falls in love with Nimal, a member of a family she works for and had known since she was a kid. She's extremely obedient not willing to go against the wishes of her parents and other elders.
• Ajith Jinadasa as Nimal Satharasinghe: A member of a higher class family who engages in a relationship with Kusum, a young passive girl who works at his house. He trains to be a teacher.
• Jenita Samaraweera as Soma Liyanage: The sister of Kusum. She, unlike her sister, goes against traditions and meets with an unfortunate result.
• Shyama Anandan as Podmini: friend of Kusum who admires her innocence and tries to protect it from corruption.
• Trelicia Gunawardene as Mrs. Liyanage: mother of Kusum and Soma. Works as a basket lady.
• Chitra Wakista as Kamalawathie Satharasinghe: haughty contradictory woman who praises her servant Kusum while viewing her as an unsuitable suitor to her son.
• Senaka Perera as Mr. Liyanage: sick father of Kusum and Soma.
• Nimal Dayaratne as Gunapala: friend of Podmini.
• Dayamanthi Pattiarachchi as Maduri: cousin of Nimal who is westernized and looks down on Kusum.
• Joe Abeywickrema as Doctor: cameo role by Abeywickrema of a doctor who supplies the Liyanage family with medicine free of charge.