Kele Handa is a 1953 Sri Lankan romantic musical starring Rukmani Devi

Rukmani Devi

Rukmani Devi was a Sri Lankan singer and actress, who was often acclaimed as "The Nightingale of Sri Lanka". She made it to the silver screen via the stage and had acted in close to 100 films, at the time of her death...

, Stanley Perera, Eddie Jayamanne

Eddie Jayamanne

Wanniaarachchige Don David Victor Jayamanne was a popular Sri Lankan comedian and actor of early Sri Lankan cinema....

, Rita Ratnayake

Rita Ratnayake

Rita Filomina Ratnayake was a Sri Lankan actress who was popular in the '50s, '60s and '70s. She came to repute in Kele Handa in the role of Daisy Attanayake....

 and Mabel Blythe

Mabel Blythe

Mabel Blythe was a popular Sri Lankan actress and singer who appeared in early Sinhala films opposite Eddie Jayamanne.Blythe was born on March 28, 1930. Actress Jemini Kantha introduced her to B. A. W. Jayamanne who cast Blythe in Hadisi Vinishchaya opposite Eddie Jayamanne...

. It is based on a popular Sinhalese novel by W. A. Silva.

The adaption was successful due to the book being widely read in school as part of the curriculum and schools brought in students on buses to see the film. It is technically poor and was shot inside a studio though the story pertained to village life.

Plot summary

Love story of Malini, a village girl who goes to town to see the Vel festival and falls in love with a rich gentleman John Jayapala who pretends to be of low class.

Cast and characters

• Rukmani Devi – Malini
• Stanley Perera – John Jayapala
• Rita Ratnayake – Daisy Attanayake
• Eddie Jayamanne – Andaa
• Mabel Blythe – Missy

Songs

• "Ho Manamalaya" – Eddie Jayamanne and Mabel Blythe
• "Aley Rahasame" – Eddie Jayamanne and Mabel Blythe
• "Mawila Penewe Rupe" – Rukmani Devi
• "Anna Sudo" – Rukmani Devi and Mohideen Baig
  Mohideen Baig
  Mohideen Baig was a popular Sri Lankan musician. He was a Muslim who moved to Sri Lanka from Salem in Tamil Nadu, India. Beg's son, Ishak is also a singer but not that popular in Srilanka like his father was. Baig has dueted with H. R. Jothipala, G.S.B. Rani Perera, Latha Walpola, Sujatha...
  
  
• "Mageya Prema Malini" – Rukmani Devi and Mohideen Baig (melody from Mohammed Rafi
  Mohammed Rafi
  Mohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
  
   and Shamshad Begum
  Shamshad Begum
  Shamshad Begum is an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry.Begum was born in Amritsar, Punjab. She was a big fan of K.L. Saigal and watched Devdas 14 times...
  
  's "Ada Se Jhoomte Hue" in 1952 Bollywood
  Bollywood
  Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
  
   film Sinbad the Sailor)
• "Dewo Gin Mawa" – Rukmani Devi
• "Pema Amadara" – Mohideen Baig (melody from Talat Mehmood's "Dil Matwala" in 1952 Bollywood
  Bollywood
  Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
  
   film Bewafa)
• "Maya" – Mohideen Baig
• "Parana Pinak" – Eddie Jayamanne and Mabel Blythe (melody from Kishore Kumar
  Kishore Kumar
  Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
  
   and Geeta Dutt
  Geeta Dutt
  Geetā Dutt was a prominent singer in India. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema...
  
  's "De Bhi Chooke Hum" in 1952 Bollywood
  Bollywood
  Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
  
   film Jaal
  Jaal (1952 film)
  Jaal is an Indian film, released in 1952. This was Guru Dutt's second movie, after Dev Anand's production Baazi Guru Dutt was sort of finding his bearings through commercially successful movies...
  
  )
• "Dinne Dinne" – Kele Hande Singing Group