Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.

Prasanna Withanage’s newest movie, “Paradise,” is based on several elements. The movie discusses racial relations in a multiethnic country. 

An Indian couple (Amritha and Kasav ) visits Sri Lanka during the height of the socio-economic drawbacks and encounters a nightmare. Their main aim is to see the places associated with the Ramayana legend. The Ramayana is a mythical story about a great war between Prince Rama and King Ravana. After the total defeat, Ravana is in a great slumber, and one day he will wake up and save the islanders. Until such time, the people have to undergo hardships. 

The Indian tourists are skeptical about the Ravana myth. The local guides try to convince them, showing them the places where Princess Sitha was forcibly kept.  However, we can see a sardonic smile on their faces, and it gives a clue that the Indian tourists did not buy the story.  However, it’s very important to maintain such stories in order to attract tourists from India.

Their first night at the hotel was amorous. They experience a romantic candlelight dinner (mainly due to the islandwide power cuts). But at midnight, they were robbed by a gang of thieves who broke into the hotel. Amritha and Kasav were physically and emotionally shattered following the dreadful incident. Kasav becomes highly wretched as a result of losing his laptop. His future job depends on the data that he saved on his personal computer. Therefore, his main aim is to recover his laptop.  

When they went to the police station, the police did not pay much attention to them because they were not white tourists. Kasav was adamant and insisted the police sergeant find his stolen goods. He specifically mentions that if the police do not oblige, he will contact the Indian High Commissioner. 

The police sergeant is now in a dilemma situation, and he has to safeguard his skin. Therefore, he uses age-old, unprofessional Sri Lankan police tactics; arresting three vagabonds in his area and forcing them to admit the theft. During the interrogation process, one suspect dies, and the police officers show their apathy. For them, it was a bad day at the office. Such events are not rare. However, Amirtha witnessed the injustice, and she became discontent. She knows that blood is in their hands, and now she has to live with it. 

Amirtha is trapped between police brutality, the death of a suspect, and her husband’s non-repenting attitude troubles her.  Paradise reminds us Paul Haggis’s 2004 movie Crash. It’s about racial relations, racial chauvinism and heedlessness towards racial minorities. We all are trapped in our dark past. As we try to repress it, things come to the surface. As a nation, we have not processed our past collective traumas. 

We cannot disregard the possibility that this movie might create unsubstantiated fear among Indian tourists who visit Sri Lanka. A similar event occurred when Alan Parker’s Midnight Express was released.  Turkey’s tourism industry suffered heavily soon after the movie that narrated prison brutality in Istanbul. Western tourists feared going to Turkey for vacation. 

At the end, things get much more complicated. Public unrest and riots are causing a domino effect. We don’t know how Kasav died. It could be due to a stray bullet or  Amritha accidentally firing her weapon which caused the death of her husband. Things end drastically. The inconclusive ending leaves many unanswered questions. We can recall the words of John Milton in his Paradise Lost Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape, how lovely: and pined his loss”

Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.