Vishama Bhaga, Math or Fact?

Sinhala Cinema, which followed the Indian tradition initially, has a history of embracing formulas & popular trends in filmmaking. They were often limited to melodramatic story telling which included a set number of songs, dances and fights. It has been said that the trend was to keep to a formula that must include a love song, happy song, sad song and a song in the rain and so on.

Our Cinema, however, evolved to be comparable with world class movies in terms of creativity in the hands of master film makers such as Lester, Pathiraja, Vasantha , Tissa & Dharmasiri in the early years and with Presanna, Asoka and Vimukti in recent years.

Signs of growth in Sri Lankan cinema as an industry began with the introduction of free economy in late 70's which however, had more adverse consequences than favourable ones in terms of the quality of work similar to what was seen in other forms of art. One cause was seen as the entry of the emerging ‘new rich’ class as financiers or producers who had commercial interests rather than promoting Art. Even though the way of storytelling changed, the tradition of keeping to a trend continued and we have seen eras where movies were made with appalling adult & violent or cheap comedy themes.

The short lived commercial success in these films made way for high budget productions allowing talented film makers to produce quality work. The sad thing was the success of such films financially attracted the commercially driven filmmakers to follow the themes of such films however, with no eye on creativity. The best example is the aftermath of the highly successful film ABA which was based on a theme from ancient Sri Lankan history. Even some directors who made quality films earlier grasped this emerging trend disregarding their talents and social sensitivity that they portrayed in their early works. Well known film maker Dharmasena Pathiraja condemned this trend as making Wesak Pandols (Thoran) rather than films.

Amidst this chaos its a pleasure to see emergence of promising new talent into Sinhala film industry in most recent years where we saw award winning productions such as 'Flying Fish' by  Sanjeewa Pushpakumara and Ho Gaana Pokuna by Indika Fernando for instance, the latter having few successful screenings in Sydney .

What made me to write my above observations were the two films we saw at Events Cinema in Castle Hill (Sydney) during the last few weeks, Thala and Vishama Bhaga.

The two films expressed similarities in terms of the underlying message though the two are seen to be at opposing ends as far as their production intent goes. Furthermore, both relate to the innovative theme of the Ho Gana Pokuna though I choose to place Vishama Bhaga way above earlier mentioned films that were caught up with popular trends, as a film that displays creative excellence with a refreshing change.

I did not read about the film before I went into the cinema but gathered from promotional material that it has a story that portray the tragedy of kidney disease effecting the poor in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. Walking into the cinema I was talking to a friend trying to recall what Vishama Bhaga means in terms of Maths that we have learnt many years ago (improper fraction) and it didn't take longer for me to remember as it was the key topic being discussed from early parts of the movie. The more profound meaning of this title, translated to English, as The Other Half, however, was revealed only when the story began to unfold between the two twin boys. I cannot think of any better way to relate to the duality of the two characters and for that matter of the world, we live in. Such minor but subtle details take the film way ahead.

The elder of the twins Ruwansiri, who makes an effort in his own way to help his grief stricken household that lost the breadwinner, his father who fell victim to the kidney decease, seems to take solace in music unlike his younger brother who does well in studies. While highlighting the plight of the family, prone to the disease with no access to clean water, the film questions the stagnant and rigid educational system of the county through Ruwansiri's struggle to keep up with the teacher's expectations.

Award winning Director Lalith Ratnayake's use of silence to emphasise the emotions of the main characters is noteworthy, though seen as being sluggish at times. Clever use of a touching folk poem that Ruwansiri learns from his ailing grandfather is exceptional. Vishama Bhaga is a beautifully shot quality film that can be ranked high as a work of collective talent and creativity in all aspects of film making that we have seen in recent years.