Paradise – Lost or Found?
I watched the movie Paradise by Prasanna Vithanage. The trailer had been teasing me in theatres since last year and was seemingly set in the backdrop of the economic crisis and the Aragalaya coupled with Ravana and some Indian tourists. Promised to be interesting.
The film revolves around an Indian couple – Kesav & Amritha – visiting Sri Lanka during the economic crisis on a Ramayana tour. Their tour guide is a Mr. Andrew and they stay at a bungalow which is run by Shree and his cook Iqbal. The tourists are robbed at night by armed persons and lose their laptops and mobile phones and their quest to retrieve these results in false accusations by them and the police, assault of wrongfully identified perpetrators and a death. This results in reactions from the estate (Malaiyagar) community where this took place.
The film highlights racism, police brutality and discrimination while showcasing the modern world’s obsession with being continuously connected online with no understanding of reality. All this in the backdrop of the economic crisis and the Ravana tales and tours.
Kesav (Roshan Mathew) is determined to retrieve his tablet and phone which has his work including material for a project selected by Netflix. He represents the quintessential tech dog who has no life besides his online world and is living in an insulated version of it. His only interest in nature is to try out venison – knowing very well that hunting is illegal. Juxtaposed with this is Shree the vegetarian who agrees to go hunt for the deer because he wants to please his guests. Almost reminiscent of the colonial masters who commanded Shree’s ancestors on the estates. Even later, Shree is falsely accused because he bears the unfortunate mark of being a Malaiyagar Tamil and no matter his character, his heritage holds him hostage.
Amritha is more concerned with nature and her blog and is fascinated by a Sambar deer which they were going to hunt and whose life she spared by saying no. This poor Sambar keeps appearing throughout the film rather overtly to symbolise Amritha and her bid for freedom.
An interesting interpretation of the Ravana tale is presented by Amritha who tells Mr. Andrew that the Jain Ramayana portrays Sita as killing Ravana to escape to freedom. This version dovetails with the ending of the film where Amritha shoots Kesav who is firing at the mob that comes to throw rocks at them and the police at the bungalow. Although the ending seems unreal realistically, from a symbolic point of view, Amritha is freed of a partner who did not seem to understand her or reality.
This tension between Amritha and Kesav starts from the beginning where you notice that Amritha is far more empathetic and realistic whereas Kesav is wrapped up in his own world and importance. Even the desire to start a family is greeted with reluctance on Amritha’s part to which Kesav is almost deliberately oblivious.
From a Ravana mania point of view, the alternative narratives of the Ravana tale question its true legitimacy and this is sort of brought out by the constant portrayal of monkeys at Ravana shrines – a kind of harking back to Hanuman and his conquest.
Overall the plot was interesting but not the best. The script could have been better edited – there were bits that were repeated too much. I watched August: Osage County and after listening to the crispness of that script, I find I am a lot more critical and aware now of the economy of words. The film is 1.5 hours approximately and since there is a lot, the script and editing could have been a bit tighter – especially in the beginning where they are setting the scene. Although the economic crisis is blamed for the hospital losing power and the police vehicle not having fuel to transport the sick young man who eventually dies, truth is that his death was unnecessary due to the corrupt systems in place. It’s symbolic of how much the economic crisis is merely a symptom of a deeper malaise that needs to be addressed.
The acting was good – Mahendra Perera plays the Police Sergeant Bandara and is the quintessential Sri Lankan trying to appease foreigners and palming the blame on others. Amritha’s portrayal by Dharshana Rajendran was authentic though her reaction after shooting Kesav is a bit overkill.
Mr. Andrew (Shyam Fernando) reminded me of Wemmick from Great Expectations – he is a mere pawn in the game and plays his part accordingly. You do not see rebellion from him or questioning – more like a somewhat stoic acceptance of what is. His utterance that he hopes Ravana will wake up and save Lanka is pretty much the sentiment of many a Sri Lankan who is waiting for saviours without understanding one’s own agency.
Some of the crowd scenes seemed orchestrated and wooden but overall it was an interesting watch and food for thought. As a country going through multiple challenges, this constant hope of Ravana is given a rather rude awakening through Amritha – especially since she is from India which is the home of the Ravana tale. It shows the folly of clinging onto vestiges of the past without understanding and taking reign of the current situation.
Is Sri Lanka the paradise it is or are we still living in nostalgia trying to regain the glories of the past while grappling with our present reality?
