In 1814, a year before the British colonised Sri Lanka, Tikiri’s husband and other Buddhist nobles try to oust the Tamil king. When this fails, the rebels’ wives are punished. Tikiri is forced to marry Vijaya, a man from the lowest caste. He fails to get her to participate in the rituals of his beggar people, which leads to the clan elder banishing the couple. Far from their communities, they cautiously establish a relationship, but this is interrupted when the Buddhists, this time with British help, manage to depose the king and Tikiri’s meeting with her former husband endangers Vijaya’s people.
There is something unmistakeably political about this moving romantic drama. Just like in contemporary Sri Lanka, where a racially, religiously-charged civil war raged for 30 years, the leads clamp onto their societal identities. Only after experiencing every possible crisis do they realise that character is more important than ancestry.
Film details
Productielanden
India, Sri Lanka
Jaar
2019
Festivaleditie
IFFR 2020
Lengte
103'
Medium/Formaat
DCP
Taal
Sinhalese (Sinhala)
Première status
European premiere
Director
Prasanna Vithanage
Producer
Alan McAlex, Prasanna Vithanage, Sandya Salgado, Ajay Rai, H.D. Premasiri
Sales / World rights holder
Prasanna Vithanage
Screenplay
Prasanna Vithanage
Cinematography
Rajeev Ravi
Editing
Sreekar Prasad
Production company
Film Island, Jar Pictures, Prasanna Vithanage Productions