Thanha Rathi Ranga :

A path-breaking lyrical road-movie

Reviewed by Dr. Uma Vangal

Nilendra Deshapriya’s Thanha Rathi Ranga (Between Yesterday and tomorrow) is a lyrical road movie that takes you into an internal journey that forces you to dwell on issues that might have been put on the back burner. Contemporary yet timeless the film takes the lives of three ordinary people caught in an extraordinary situation and turns it into a metaphorical yet spiritual experience for us.

The journey they take in their flashily fitted out auto (Three Wheeler) becomes our journey. A journey that visits all our deepest fears, our fierce desire to be accepted, our need to discover romance in our dreary lives, our need to ultimately find salvation. Above all, it is our journey to make meaning of the world around us.

The theme is topical in that while the debate rages on human rights violations across the sub continent we confront the horrors of the individual and public ramifications of the choices we make as frail human beings.

This the film-maker does with the simple story of three friends-ordinary young men- with a simple desire to bathe in the sea at Nandikadal, which was in the news as the place where Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE leader was shot dead.

Wimal personifies the simple yearning to love and be loved but afraid to make commitment. His family situation with the clichéd bad uncle making their life difficult for his mother and siblings depending on him, his struggle for survival and self-respect all find echoes in many young people in Sri Lanka and elsewhere grappling with the day- to-day realities.

Ethnic stereotypes

Suraj is the angst-ridden student, sensitive and frustrated, the product of the mixed confused global yet local identities young people across the world face neither fitting in with the ethnic stereotypes nor managing to make an impact outside his pitiful world with ideas of grandeur and unguided channelled energy and anger.

Sirithunga is easily the one we can instantly sympathise with. A father with a small loving family making ends meet by doing odd jobs around and hoping to someday make their dreams come true. That he is the sensible one and that he has more to lose than the other two is destined from the moment he throws the pistol away.

It is at one level a film about the position or situation that Sri Lanka finds itself currently. In the middle of the human rights issue and fiercely protecting its sovereign rights yet knowing that it needs to find ways of dealing with the 30-year trauma she and her people have been through.

Opening with the celebrations of what they called Peace Day – food, smiles, bursting of crackers and then relentlessly moving on to end to the cycle of violence that keeps haunting the nation.

Danger

The vitiation can be seen in terms of having grown up in an environment of violence and fear. The anxieties of the physical and spiritual struggles that Sinhalese, Tamils, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims in the island nation and the world over face everyday.

And the fact haunts you that in such a picturesque landscape danger lurks in every blade of grass, in the lush fields, at every turn on the road and you are constantly standing at the fork roads attempting to make the right choice. Just like the three protagonists do to keep the pistol or not? To take the road to peace or violence? To live or to die?

Almost childish in their enthusiasm the three set off almost like pilgrims-innocent and clean of mind and spirit and end up as dark angels grappling with their loyalties, their compulsions to find fulfilment of their dreams battling to keep their friendship intact amidst challenges.

Wimal’s childlike simplicity is endearing while Sirithunga’s toothy smile makes you smile along as he showers love and attention on his wife and children and Suraj gets our sympathy as a forlorn abandoned child who has to prove his patriotism and loyalty to friends and the nation.

Impulsive

That they are wayward and impulsive and will end up in trouble is hinted at the moment they find the gun at Nandikadal shores and then begins the frenzied journey back home. From then it builds up with the tense moments of near discovery at various checkpoints ending in them hiding the pistol back home.

We can’t help but shake our heads in premonition when they decide not to throw away the gun as requested by Sirithunga when he ends up facing the worst consequence of losing his child and getting arrested and interrogated not even allowed time to grieve his loss when all along he was the sensible one.

But his failure to prevail on young brash friends is his failure and he has to pay the heavy price that goes with being party to something even if you don’t believe in it. Thousands of Sinhalese and other people in areas/zones of conflict who condone by silence and do nothing about the issues at hand.

The non-judgemental manner in which the plethora of real characters is shown is sensitive – the dwarfs serving the pilgrims around the campfire, the musicians who represent the soft nature of all Sri Lankans, the military officers and their still fearful anger and impatience at the checkpoints; their humane side when they give the three some food and advice; the platoon that saves them from the landmines they run into inadvertently; the constable who hitches a ride with them exposing the corruption and double standards that exist in a society bred on fear and feudalism when he takes them to the farm to load up on goodies that are served up with servility by the Tamil farmer.

Romance

Portions of the film stay in the real world with the three attempting to have fun on the beach, Wimal romancing the young girl in the sequence with gently and dreamy songs (clearly Mani Ratnam and his film songs are a strong influence in the campfire sequence), Suraj sharing some loving moments with his girlfriend and Sirithunga just letting the moments be.

Other sequences move into a dreamlike metaphorical plane leaving the audience to make up their minds about where they want to go with this tale.

The auto journey itself is paced accordingly. The meandering yet jerky auto ride and the pace at which we are slowly drawn into the metaphoric spiritual journey to look into our deepest recesses and reserves to deal with the fears that confront us on a daily basis.

Metaphors abound. The Buddha is a constant in the auto, in their home and in the beautifully framed shot of the pigeon coop as Wimal and Suraj take out the gun to give vent to their anger, helplessness and frustration. In the foreground the mute Buddha makes us speculate on what if he hadn’t done that making it the crucial point in the film.

Ahimsa and non-violence have all but disappeared and anger and bloodshed has permeated all aspects of our lives. The chilling scene of the children ease with firearms and playing with the violent imagery surrounding them desensitizing them to the dangers of such play brings a lump in the throat as we watch it.

And as Sirithunga rides furiously in the rain knowing that his journey is futile, we realise we are on the verge of tears and allow the rain to substitute the collective sorrow we feel at the terrible loss we have all suffered.

Impact

The rain, the sea and the waves are a constant reminder to us that governments, the powers that be and our leaders repeat their mistakes time and time again and the innocent pay the price for it. The wages of war and the wayward are visited upon the rest of us.

The Tamil mother facing the impact of the man who is judged because of his mixed parentage, the rigidity of bureaucracy and vested groups who refuse to see the truth behind simple acts, the ease with which they are branded terrorists, the tyranny of the mind all over the world – quick to pin blame, always suspicious and capable of finding scapegoats in all situations never allowing for the truth to emerge.

The performances are natural and never make us feel it is an unreal fictional plot. We accept them as the characters and in that sense the casting is near perfect. Dhanushka Gunathilake’s camera captures the beauty and grimness of the locations well. Picturesque Sri Lanka is an added advantage since all the frames look beautiful in the outdoor sequences while the city sequences bring out the reality of their situations. The screenplay by Sarath Kothalawala/Kumara Thirimadura draws us inexorably towards self-realisation. Gayathri Khemadasa and Anupa Khemadasa never intrude with the music except to focus our attention on the emotional strain of the story. Ravindra Guruge’s editing is well paced and unobtrusive and allows us to move with the characters.

The film is a sad, beautiful and melancholic song that leaves you pondering on the inner and outer journeys. The last frame evokes pathos of the reality, nothing changed after 10 years and the gender perspective is refreshing gently yet asking us to think about our response as a generation to the fact that women are rarely the cause of conflict but victims of it.

The girl shot at by the brother albeit playfully, Sirithunga’s wife, left to deal with the emotional and physiological impact, Wimal’s mother dealing with the atrocities and assaults of a brother-in-law who preys on a household with no man, the two helpless girlfriends having to relinquish their love of boys who refuse to grow up or deal with the reality around them and Suraj’s mother having to deny her son’s very existence and suffer in silence all of them helpless to stem the anger or violence knowing fully the futility and stupidity of the men in their lives.

Human existence

The film-maker questions the very fabric of human existence and uses the story of the three flawed irresponsible men to weave a tale of war and peace, a tragedy that echoes within all of us.

The spectre of death surrounds us with the vultures that circle around and the relentless pounding of the waves on the calm shore heralding the inevitable doom as we slowly but surely go along with the three men in their descent into a hell of their own making and of the circumstances that trap them.

We as audiences will be forced to rethink all our decisions, our complicity with such repressive actions and our silence when challenged to take sides. To me as a film scholar and teacher, this film makes me re-examine my own vision of the world and hopes for humankind. It gives all of us pause – to think about where we are heading as societies and is it too late to take a stand.

All is not lost as we see when they emerge from prison after 10 years but all is not that different either. That difference lies in our hands. Reality, dreams, the truth and the lies that shroud our lives is captured in a casual way that catches you unaware. Thank you Nilendra Deshapriya for making us sensible, for making us feel and most of all for making us think.

The writer is a film scholar and teacher, Head, Media Entertainment and Direction Faculty, LV Prasad Film Academy, Chennai, India.