Machan (2008)

The real story of the not-so real Sri Lanka National Handball Team.

Director:

Uberto Pasolini

Writers:

Ruwanthie De Chickera, Uberto Pasolini

Stars:

Dharmapriya Dias, Gihan De Chickera, Dharshan Dharmaraj

10 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dharmapriya Dias	...	Stanley
Gihan De Chickera	...	Manoj
Dharshan Dharmaraj	...	Suresh
Namal Jayasinghe	...	Vijith
Sujeewa Priyalal	...	Piyal
Dayadewa Edirisinghe	...	Naseem
Mahendra Perera	...	Ruan
Pitchchei Selvaraj	...	Nesa
Kumara Thirimadura	...	Oaf
Pubudu Chathuranga	...	Spoilt Son
S. Selvsekaran	...	Father
Pradeepan Puwabalasingham	...	AJ
Sarath Karunaratne	...	PK
Mangala Pradeep Kumara	...	VD
Saumya Liyanage	...	Angry Foreigner

Storyline

A group of desperate slum dwellers, living on the margins of society under impossible pressures, find an invitation to a handball tournament in Bavaria to be the answer to their prayers, a one way ticket to the West and the wealth that will solve all their problems.

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Plot Keywords:

handball | one word title | immigration fraud | based on true story

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Sri Lanka Italy Germany

Language:

Sinhalese English

Release Date:

12 September 2008 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Machan - La vera storia di una falsa squadra

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Budget:

€5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Babelsberg Film, Rai Cinema, Redwave Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Excellent movie with humor, sorrow and sarcasm and a superb cast

This is one of the greatest movies I have ever watched. It is real and it is brave. I really liked the way it pictured the sorrowful helpless lives of Sri Lankan poverty and how they struggle to stand up on their own. No exaggeration at all and amazingly realistic. I think Sri Lankan film industry needs some movies like this, which are closer to the reality. Even though the director is Italian (and I honor him for making such a good movie out of our talented artists), our Sri Lankan artists have done a great justice to the movie. First of all I must say that the cast is saturated. You can expect more for a real wholesome cast for a picture. Even Irangani Serasinghe does a few seconds role; she creates a wonderful image of an Aunt Maggie (Iim not going to spoil it for you here) Everyone is contributing with a great performance, so the cast can be easily given a 10/10. Especially Darmapriya Dias has done an outstanding job. He has really proved that he is a very talented young artist, emerged through the stage plays.

I will rate this movie as 9/10(that's to be fair I guess) Really hope to see more movies like this in the future.