Desa Nisa

Desa Nisa

DVD Cover
Directed by Lester James Peries
Produced by Lester James Productions
Northwestern Enterprises
Written by Gunasena Galappatty
Starring Joe Abeywickrema
Sriyani Amarasena
Ravindra Randeniya
Music by Premasiri Khemadasa
Edited by Gladwin Fernando
Release dates
 1972
Running time
 97 minutes
Country Sri Lanka
Language Sinhala
Budget 200,000 rupees

Desa Nisa (Sinhala: A Certain Look) is a 1972 Sri Lankan drama film directed by Lester James Peries. The film stars Joe Abeywickrema as Nirukada, an ugly man who worries that his blind wife will leave him if she regains her sight.

Peries made the film as a vehicle for Joe Abeywickrema. The source material was a Gunasena Galappatti play which was made more accessible to a lay audience by Galappatti on Peries' urging. Critics were puzzled by the film and wrote that it was Peries' most mysterious.

Plot

Nirudaka (Joe Abeywickrema) is an ugly man who is only loved by his mother (Denawaka Hamine) and taunted by others. He falls in love with blind Sundari (Sriyani Amarasena) and they get married.

The mother then feels obliged to cure Sundari's blindness much to Nirudaka's chagrin and takes her to a hermit (Ravindra Randeniya) with healing powers. Nirudaka does not wish her to regain her sight, but against his underlying wish he and his mother accompany Sundari to get her healed with the aid of the hermit, who resides atop a mountain.

Cast