Sri Lanka National Handball Team

Mi chum is Machan.

While Ulberto was shooting the movie in Sri Lanka, the most frequently spoken word that got his attention was "Machan". A common word used among Sri Lankan males when they talk to each other. As a result the director at the end decided to name the movie after it.

As the title suggests it is a bond between friends, not limiting to the youth, all types of age groups come together to achieve a common goal. That goal is somehow reaching a developed country for a better life.

Few years ago,Uberto Passolini read a news article featuring a story about a Sri Lankan handball team who traveled to Australia for an international tournament. There was a surprise in that story and based on the actual events he decided to make a movie on those events.

The story of the handball team appeared to be a very calculated and smart effort to illegally migrate into a foreign land. Inspired by that Uberto visited Sri Lanka with the intention of finding a writer and a producer to bring that story into life on silver screen.

It was a successful effort and the end result turned out to be a very good original movie.

The story can be quite universal to the youths looking for a better life in most under developed countries. Even though the movie passes itself to be reckoned as a comedy, it is no short of drama. The difference is those actual events have not been dramatized and it has given the movie such a realistic feeling that the audience can sit through relating themselves to the situations portrayed in the movie. I believe the genius of the director in balancing the story and drama is the best quality attributed to the success of this movie. The other main aspect is the casting. The choices are superb. The actors can not be more authentic. The convincing nature of the acting talents has been the highlight throughout the movie. The audience will embrace them, cause they are the closest thing to your own family and friends you rarely get to watch on Sri Lankan made movies. Not to mention the movie is filled with social clichés as well. I believe even though it is a hard core indie movie, those clichés deviate the movies' path from conventional indie style to Hollywood low budget nature. Apart from that the overall performance of the movie can be applauded and to me it was the most pleasurable Sinhala movie experience of my lifetime.

It was raining today and a friend and I wandered into this film (by mistake!! We looked at the wrong day and thought this was a Slovak documentary) at the Trencin Film Fest in Slovakia. It was one of the most fortunate mistakes I've ever made. I am not a movie fan, but with no knowledge of the plot, etc, watching this unfold was magical. Many others have commented on the acting, the authenticity, the story. . . I concur; all converged perfectly. I felt I was there in SL, and that it wasn't a script. Truly one of the best films I've ever seen (admittedly, I see few films). So human, so true, and in the way perhaps art does best, it shined a light on a situation (economics, politics, immigration) that often fails to consider people-- individuals with dignity who bear the brunt of the economic machine's brutality. I hope this movie goes further and I will recommend it to all of my friends. Wow.

This film was very enjoyable to watch. Captures local culture very well.

Funny, poignant and eye opening. The amazing true story of a motley group of illegal economic migrants is sensitively directed by Uberto Pasolini with Prasanna Vithanage, brilliantly acted by some of Sri Lanka's finest stage and screen actors, beautifully shot along with an engaging score, makes this one of the best Sri Lankan movies out there.

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.