The year 2023 has been a great one for film so far, with many of the films that had to wait for release during the last two years now getting their time in the theatres. Local cinema appears to be feeling these effects, with several Sri Lankan films hitting the theatres these past two months and many more to premiere soon to great anticipation from audiences.
Film industry concerns about the general public not showing up at the cinemas owing to the current economic crisis and the general doom and gloom have been put to rest with films like ‘Gajaman’ doing record-breaking numbers (it has become a contender for the most money earned for a Sinhala film). It would seem that people still love going to the cinema if they are given a good enough reason to go.
Amidst the slew of films hitting theatres right now, audiences can also expect critically-acclaimed director Indika Ferdinando’s newest film ‘Wedi Nowadina Lamayi’ or ‘Bulletproof Children,’ which premiered on 16 February.
The film’s official synopsis goes a little something like this – “Set during the 1996 Cricket World Cup Final in Lahore, a man and his wife board a bus with a strange cardboard box and encounter other passengers, including an eloping couple. The bus is pursued by a Defender jeep and a subsequent accident reveals the contents of the box, leading to an unexpected journey for all aboard.”
Those who have already watched the film have had nothing but good things to say about it, so The Sunday Morning Brunch reached out to one of the stars of the film, Ashan Dias, best known for being a character actor and a veteran performer with nearly 15 films in his repertoire, to share his thoughts on ‘Bulletproof Children,’ what makes the film so special, and to share his experience working on set with Indika Ferdinando, whom Ashan calls “a genius”.
‘Bulletproof Children’ is simply different
When asked to describe the film, Ashan claimed that it was completely different to what audiences may have seen produced for Sri Lankan cinemas so far.
“It is a different genre of cinema; it is musical, theatrical, and almost Broadway-like, with the feel of a magic show. It has suspense, romance, and heartbreak – basically, everything you want in something to entertain you,” he said.
Ashan shared that it was difficult for him to describe the film, mainly because he believed it to be “one of a kind”. “It’s sort of like a Wes Anderson piece, something like ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ in terms of how choreographed and musical that was,” he explained.
He shared that this “one of a kind film” only existed because of its director Indika Ferdinando and insisted: “I think he is a genius.”
Ashan may not be the only one to believe that Ferdinando is capable of making magical and entertaining pieces of cinema; the director has already proven himself with his directorial debut and box office hit ‘Ho Gaana Pokuna’. While this new film promises to be almost entirely different, we can be sure that he brought his innate prowess to his second work as well.
All about the story and how it’s delivered
Ashan described the film as based entirely on characters and acting, noting that the majority of the film, save for the opening sequence, was set on a bus ride headed from Colombo to Anuradhapura.
“There was no room for bad acting, because there is nowhere to hide. It is one location, one space, so there can be no extras who are there for the sake of being there – every character you see on screen has to be at the top of their craft,” Ashan said.
He noted that the technicalities behind such a shoot were incredibly difficult. “It is a really tough thing for the director to bring something like that to life, because it has to be flawless,” Ashan stressed, adding that he himself was very critical about his own acting. While he personally felt himself to be the weakest link in the ensemble, he believed that everyone had delivered a near perfect performance, which was once again owing to their remarkable director.
He further noted that this had quite possibly been one of the toughest shoots he had been a part of: “It was a night shoot that started at 6 p.m. and finished at 6 a.m., so there was nowhere to rest, nowhere to sit apart from the seats in that bus. The camera crew had no space at all to manoeuvre – everything was cramped in that one space.” However, regardless of the challenges, he shared that everyone from the cast to the crew had done an excellent job, including their producer who had not spared any expense to make the film happen.
Ashan noted that films such as this were a testament to what could be achieved if you had people who were good at what they did at the helm. “The brilliance of the writing, directing, and the music – which is epic in this film – is what makes it work,” he said.
Creativity is key, stop complaining
Considering that ‘Bulletproof Children,’ while certainly a spectacle, still largely hinged on the craftsmanship of the people involved, Ashan spoke of Sri Lankan cinema and how it had the necessary skills to be great, but somehow was unable to utilise them effectively.
“I don’t know if everyone will agree, but Sri Lankans, for some reason, are a race that somehow looks for excuses wherever we go,” said Ashan, making a bold statement, which he however went on to qualify: “This is why our industry has not yet been successful. We will do something and if it doesn’t work, we will just make excuses, saying ‘this is why we can’t do this,’ or that ‘it is because we don’t have this or that’. We like to say that Hollywood and Bollywood have the resources, but if you look at films like this, you don’t need a huge budget or massive set pieces to make a good film. You can pick a room and make an entire feature-length film if you have a solid script, solid actors, and a good plan.”
Ashan also shared that he believed Sri Lankans tended to stick to two extremes when it came to filmmaking: “We either have extremely commercial films or serious arthouse films. Commercial films have very little substance and the arthouse ones aren’t for everyone – they do not resonate with the masses, which then doesn’t lend itself to the growth of the industry. We are yet to create this culture where we find the balance between the commercial and art, which is what the rest of the world is doing.”
Despite his criticism of the industry, Ashan shared that he remained hopeful, largely due to the talent he had encountered in his work and also the shift in content that was likely to take place soon. He noted that Sri Lankan audiences could expect many good things in the near future, where a lot of innovative creators would make efforts to bring something new to Sri Lankan screens. He also added that he was incredibly proud of some of the upcoming works he was a part of, including films like ‘Ayu’ and ‘1970 Love Story,’ while encouraging the public to watch other films such as ‘Gaadi’ and ‘Gajaman’ – pieces of Lankan cinema which he believed deserved audience support.