Ae (film)

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Ae is a 2022 Sri Lankan Sinhala drama directed by Eranga Senaratne. It stars Umeshi Wickramasinghe and Yash Weerasinghe in the lead, with Manel Wanaguru, Darshan Dharmaraj and Chalani Balasuriya in supporting roles. Notably, it is the first Sinhala film with a single-letter title and was released online, outside traditional cinemas, on the Cinema Ceylon platform. The film is available to audiences in 42 countries.

Plot
Jeevani, a 23-year-old Tamil woman, works as a housemaid in a Colombo bungalow and dreams of meeting film star Dilhani Ekanayake. Her life changes when she meets Madhava, a university-educated Sinhala Buddhist young man from the south who comes to Colombo to escape political trouble. After being caught with drugs, Madhava runs and hides in the bungalow where Jeevani works. Drug dealers pursue him, but Jeevani decides to help him realize his dreams.

Production
Ae marks Eranga Senaratne’s eighth film. The story and concept are by Senaratne, with screenplay and dialogues by Dinali Roshanthi Senaratne. Cinematography is by Daya Suriyarachchi and editing by Dasun Ranasinghe.

Release
The film released online on August 12, 2022. According to the director, there was no Sri Lankan cinema release for Ae at that time, though there are plans to screen it in some Australian cinemas.