Background

Renowned and Veteran film director, writer and researcher Devinda Kongahage did an extensive socio-political and anthropological research over a period of Two years and wrote the master piece script of “Neeru Pootha Neruppu” – fire beneath Ash, a Tamil language feature film. The said research was focused and driven along the period prior to the civil war that tormented the Island through thirty long years, which triggered in 1979. The research dug in to the pre-war period during 1960s and 70s and It’s focuses on the general social and political profile in Jaffna. As well as how the Tamil young generation was gradually led towards a civil war by political manipulation and handling, which was fueled by boiling and brewing political situations in the northern society. The feature film deeply reviews the researched facts and unveils how the innocent public was oppressed by the political circumstances, with the beginning of an inevitable social turbulence in the Tamil society and how it was eventually penetrated towards the fraction in the Tamil and Sinhala community with lead in different paths. 

Meanwhile discussing the political and sociological complexities this film is woven with a sensitive heartwarming and a heartbreaking love story between a Tamil boy and a Sinhalese girl, who gets caught by the social and political turbulence, and forced to eradicate their future dreams by departing in different avenues. “Neeru Pootha Neruppu” is created based on true political and social events as well woven with realistically creative incidents.

“Neeru Pootha Neruppu” stand as a significant mile stone in the Sri Lankan film industry, being the first ever Sri Lankan Tamil film done by a Sinhalese film director on the above said subject, completely in Jaffna Tamil dialect. Also, this is the first ever Sri Lankan Tamil film which will reach South Indian Cinema for main stream screening, along with an offshore reach.