Set on breaking barriers

You will never be faulted for looking through him, as he prefers to keep away from the limelight unless be made to step into it. Vithanage prefers to do the talking through his cinema. And that is how he speaks his best — in a layered, sensitive, powerful manner, but certainly not overbearing.

Vithanage occupies a special position in the history of Sri Lankan cinema. His themes are pithy comments on the society, and more often than not create a debate. Indeed, he had to seek the help of the country’s Supreme Court to get a ban lifted on his 1997 film Purahanda Kaluwara (Death on a Full Moon Day), imposed by the government who feared that its theme tackling the brutal realities of the Sri Lankan government’s war against the Tamil separatists could create a strong debate in society.

The film — which tells the story of Vannihamy (played brilliantly by Joe Abeywickrama) who refuses to sign compensation papers after the Army presents him with the remains of his son as he believes that his son is still alive — is definitely Vithanage’s most powerful film till date.

Vithanage’s films, in their use of brilliant actors, neo-realistic presentation and societal pathos, show that he belongs to the Satyajit Ray school of filmmaking, and he has more than once acknowledged the influence the master had on him. His vision has been applauded at numerous film festivals, and the story hasn’t been different with his latest film Akasa Kusum (Flowers of the Sky) too. Set against the backdrop of the film industry itself, the film has Vithanage leave the political subtext, instead concentrating on intense human relationships, with the focus on womanhood.

The film has an Indian connection too. Vithanage, going beyond his earlier association with India in the form of post-production work, has partenered with National Award winning editor A Sreekar Prasad to produce the film. Which is why he is eager that the film gets released in India.

“It has always been one-way traffic, with Indian films regularly getting released in Sri Lanka, but with films like Akasa Kusum we are trying to break that barrier. It is said this is the age of globalization, but it is actually the globalization of money and capital, not of cultures. Thus, American films dominate 95 per cent of the world, and likewise India dominates the neighbourhood market. Though I don’t accept it, that’s the reality,” says the veteran director who started off on the stage, an association which he still continues.

“I would love to release this film in India as it has a lot of Indian influences. Even in the narrative, you have Sandhya Rani working in a soap opera. The Sri Lankan film industry has been fed by the images and sounds of Indian films. Soap operas of India have influenced our industry. I would love for it to release at least in Chennai,” he adds.

Vithanage counts himself among the lucky few Sri Lankan filmmakers, along with Vimukthi Jayasundara and Lester James Peries, whose films have travelled widely. In fact, he has even made a film by the name Machan with Italian producer Uberto Passolini, which was a big hit.

“I have been lucky in that sense. This film had a budget of about Rs 65 lakh in Indian currency, which is miniscule by Indian standards. But all my films have been released in Sri Lanka and crossed 50 days, helping me recover around half the cost, while the rest is recovered from international sales. That’s how I have been surviving for past 20 years,” he says.

The director, like his idol Ray, earlier believed that he should concentrate solely on the market he knew, in his case, Sri Lanka. “I was influenced by Ray’s famous comment that one should always concentrate on one market. Only for Shatranj Ke Khiladi did he go abroad. But with time, things have changed. If not for India, my films would not have reached the international stage. From post-production work to film festivals here, India has been a launching pad for my films,” he shares.

Vithanage reveals that Akasa Kusum has been challenging for him. “It was challenging to be truthful about an industry the insides of which I know so well. It has autobiographical elements of many actresses. Sri Lanka being a small industry, everybody knows each other. With the film industry as the backdrop, I’ve explored what it means to be a woman,” he says.

The veteran is, however, worried at the state of affairs of the industry back home. “It’s shrinking. In the 70s, we had a closed economy, so no foreign films were allowed. There was a quota for Indian films. Then when the economy opened, foreign films entered and naturally got the major part of the market. The subsidies given to the industry have also been taken away. There are no buyers, so the producer himself has to release the film.
It’s not practical. Most of the time, producers have not gotten their money back. Now, Sri Lanka makes just 15 to 20 productions a year, when in the past, it used to make about 50 to 60. But the good thing is that we still have a middle-class audience who go and watch good films in the theatres,” he explains.