Yashodara (Pallavi Subash) at Buddha’s feet
I watched most of Prof. Sunil Ariyarathne’s early films and was impressed with the young lyricist’s foray into a totally different genre of art though some of his works failed to live up to expectations.
His stories were exciting and offbeat and had talented stars. There was no dearth of producers but that phase, as I think, was all about cutting his teeth experimenting with the media.
Then came ‘Sarungale’ in 1979, a classic by any standards delving deep into the emerging ethnic crisis projecting a prophetic vision of what would happen in Colombo streets 13 years later. Gamini Fonseka was cast in the lead as an ageing Tamil government servant torn between caste and politics.
An enchanting rural love story ‘Siribo Aiya’, based on Arawwala Nandimithra’s novel of the same name starring talented Joe Abeywickrema in the lead role, established Prof. Ariyarathne as a front runner in the Sinhala film industry.
Then I believe he took a little break concentrating on authoring several critically-acclaimed books on Sinhala culture and native music and the second phase began in 1990 with the ‘Life of Christ’ followed by several big-budget period films.
‘Bimbadevi alias Yashodara’ can be described as one of the best films of the university don’s career. Based on an enduring love story in the world, the film is about the lives of Prince Siddhartha and Queen Yashodara, their brief marriage and her ultimate sacrifice for the man she loved dearly, supporting him selflessly all the way to achieve the ultimate truth of life.
Their epic love story and the couple’s association through many past births is well known to the Buddhists and the way the filmmaker handles the hallowed saga is graceful.
On one side there is the enduring love of Yashodara even after her husband relinquished his worldly life and goes to the jungle to be the Buddha, juxtaposed against his father King Sudhdhodana’s vain attempt to break the cyclical nature of a divine prophecy since the time of the Deepankara Buddha.
On the other side is the affection of Prince Devdath for his cousin Yashodara who he thought was destined to a life of loneliness and misery after her husband left her with a one-day old son. He tells the queen: “If Siddhartha goes into the jungle and dies you will have to perform Sathi or if he cannot be found you will be confined to some ashram set aside for widows condemned to a lonely and disgraceful life consuming food without even salt.” This brings to our mind the character of child bride Chuyia (Sarala Kariyawasam) in Canadian director Deepa Mehta’s Academy award nominated film ‘Water’.
Devdath takes his revenge to new heights by plotting to kill the Buddha while attempting to create a division in Buddhism by creating a group of monks opposing the Thathagatha.
In a press interview Prof. Ariyarathne has said the principal texts that had served as a source for the film was ‘Lady of the Lotus’ by William Edmund Barrette, a novel about Princess Yashodara written in 1974. Three books by Barette were made into successful movies and Sydney Poiteir won the Award for Best Actor in 1964 for ‘Lilies of the Field’ which also has a religious theme.
Another major source cited by the director is 13th Century Sinhala classic ‘Pujavaliya’ written by Mayurapada Thero. There is also a long list of scholars and renown Buddhist monks who had been consulted for the film project.
Two Indian stars Pallavi Subash and Arpit Choudhary shine in the film with their tremendous acting skills, appealing to the Buddhist audience with their exotic North Indian looks resembling the images that artistes have tried to recreate in Buddhist paintings and statues over the years. The director says he wanted to hire new stars without any personal scandals in their personal lives in consideration of the sacred nature of the film. Dineth De Silva as Devdath presents the next best character portrayal.
Thumindu Dodanthenna who plays the role of an ascetic adds a dramatic touch – the director came into film after a producing several stage dramas – also functioning as ‘pothe gura.’ Thumindu is not able to project his real talents as what happened in ‘DS Jathiye Piya’ and partly looks redundant as there is no need to remind the audience of the significance of well-known incidents surrounding the plot.
Cinematography by Channa Deshapriya is visually stunning. So is Rohana Weerasinghe’s lively music. Costumes, jewelleries and set decorations are meticulously designed to project the royal glamour and superfluity common to ancient Indian dynasties.
The film was screened for a worthy cause. The proceeds go to the building fund of the Toronto Maha Vihara (Buddhist Temple). – www.newstrails.com
