Director Jayantha Chandrasiri and possessed Vidya (Kavindya) in a scene
Sometimes fiction becomes fact and fact becomes fiction is how the protagonist Sandaras Edirisinghe (Kamal Addaraarachchi) of Jayantha Chandrasiri’s latest film ‘Gharasarapa’ is trying to sum up his experience with occult forces responsible for transforming his life.
Love happens in a most unlikely place: a Sri Lankan Catholic church which is known to drive out demons out of the afflicted. The church is real and some incidents portrayed in the film are not pure imagination.
Devil or Satan is the personification of evil according to the Bible and Jesus Christ is said to have driven unclean spirits out of possessed people. Certain Christian denominations are known to drive out the demons out of possessed people even today. If these things happen in developed countries what Chandrasiri is trying to say in his film is not pigment of imagination of some Third World film maker.
Demons and devils are rooted in the folklore of our culture that can be unconnected to Buddhism. There is a belief that Kalu Kumara or the Black Prince, the dominating occult presence in ‘Gharasarapa’, is a myth popularized by village elders to instil discipline among the pubescent girls and to warn them of forces waiting to harm them. Black Prince is said to be targeting newly-attained young maidens who are yet to taste their first ‘blush of love’.
I remember as a kid, growing up among villagers who were reluctant to pass a graveyard alone in the night, and avoided eating burnt meat after dark ‘to keep unnecessary evil influences at bay’. I am not sure whether such practices and beliefs have changed now with barbecuing becoming a favourite pastime in Sri Lanka, as the opening party scene of the film suggests.
At the church in question, love from the netherworld changes the lives of two young protagonists, Devnaka Porage (Sandares Edirisinghe) and Kavindya Adhikari (Vidya). Obviously, it is love at first sight and the surrounding incidents change the lives of the two young lovers turning their attention to choose their future career paths to help the people afflicted with such illnesses: a happy ending to an otherwise tragic love story.
Chandrasiri uses his film to project another aspect of love like he did in ‘Agnidahaya’ and ‘Samanala Sandwanaya’. Gharasarapa’s love is from the netherworld with a twist when Black Prince’s soft corner for Vidya is defeated by the force of pure love of a young innocent heart. Unable to penetrate that bond, instead of destroying them, Gharasarapa vows to help them in future.
Deftly directed, ‘Gharasarpa’ showcases Chandrasiri’s masterly grip on his craft and he, like Prasanna Vithanage and Asoka Handagama of his generation, is few notches above selecting the ideal cast to portray his characters and reap the best out of them.
Kavindya, a total new comer, shows promise beyond her years and her facial features are surprisingly in perfect harmony with the elder Vidya played by Sangeetha Weerasinghe. So is Devnaka who plays the young character of Addaraarachchi. In a media interview the director has said that he met Kavindya as a kid at a gathering with her parents, Athula Adikari and Samitha, and instinctively noted to cast her in a film some day.
It is no surprise why Jackson Anthony is still one of the best actors on Sinhala stage, TV and movies. We hear his voice often in the film though his face is not seen that often and the dance he himself undertook to perform as the yakadura (devil dancer), wearing a mask, can be described only in superlatives.
When I met Malini Fonseka in Dubai in the late 80s I asked her which actress is capable of filling her void when she retires and without any hesitation the ‘Queen of Sinhala Cinema’ mentioned the name of Sangeetha. I did not know the young new comer then but her prediction has come true today. Sangeetha appears for a few minutes in ‘Gharasarapa’ bringing out the best in her, subtly displaying the tension at the unexpected meeting many years later with her first love who changed her life.
The difference between the career graphs of the two actresses is that Malini came into cinema in the late 60s as the indigenous film industry was gaining wider recognition while Sangeetha made her debut two decades later when Sinhala films were facing uncertain times owing to tough competition from TV, with fewer films being made.
‘Gharasarapa’ seems quite a difficult film to make with lot of extras and a challenging script, written by the director himself, which could have gone either way at the box office, The saving grace is Chandrasiri’s own expertise over his craft and his belief in himself.
The cast includes veteran Sriyantha Mendis in the role of the Catholic priest, Kusum Renu, Ameesha Kavindi, Vasantha Vittachchi, and Yashoda Wimaladharma in a cameo.
Stunning cinematography is handled by Prabath Roshan while music direction is by Chintaka Jayakody.
Chandrasiri has written lyrics and the beautiful melody ‘Hema Deyak Pene’, sung by Samitha Mudunkotuwa and Bachi Susan, has become equally popular like ‘Ikigasa Handana’ from ‘Samanala Sandwaniya’, notching up more than million hits on Youtube. This is the first time in Sinhala film industry that a mother, Samitha, has handled playback singing for a daughter, Kavindya.
Though Chandrasiri is not fond of Magical Realism, Sumithra Peries’ ‘Vaishnawi’ came to my mind while watching the film. Sumithra’s film has a similar theme in which a young puppeteer getting under the spell of a tree goddess.
Udayakantha Warnasooriya’s ‘Bandhanaya’, though lacking in Chandrasiri’s sophistication and depth, too deals with a similar story. Here two village families are involved in a fight unto death over a disputed family land seeking the help of ‘kodiwina’ or black magic to dictate the outcome of the family squabble. The film looks like a loose remake of ‘The Exorcist’ employing similar techniques. The types of squabbles shown in ‘Bhandanaya’ are not rare in Sri Lanka.
Producer Arjuna Kamalanath was present at the Toronto screening of Gharasarapa. The movie was sponsored by the Alumni Association of the University of Jayewardenepura in aid of funds to offer scholarships to deserving students in Sri Lanka. – Somasiri Munasinghe
