Wikipedia
Welikathara
Welikathara (Sinhala, Desert) is a 1971 dramatic film made by Sri Lankan director D. B. Nihalsinghe.It was the first film directed by D. B. Nihalsingha.
Since Welikathara was the first film in CinemaScope in Sri Lanka, it faced many obstacles, first of which was the lack of access to cinemas capable of showing that format. (Most of them had been reserved for US films). This was solved by arranging a cross circuit release, combining cinemas in the three competing circuits at that time- another first.
The film was a box office success as well as being critically appreciated, going on to be presented by a Sri Lankan Presidential Award as one of the Ten Best Sri Lankan films of all time.