Gaadi: Children of the Sun is a highly simple film with a highly complex take on social liberation
By Harrish Thirukumaran
Auteur theory is considered a school of thought in filmmaking that considers the director as the major creative force behind a motion picture or film. This is something that immediately pops into the mind based on the feel and commentary on the film, Gaadi: Children of the Sun.
Released in 2023 and directed by Prasanna Vithanage, the film centers on a woman named Tikiri, played by actress Dinara Punchihewa, who is stripped from nobility and forcibly married to an outcast, Vijaya, acted by Sajitha Anuththara, by the monarchy in pre-colonial Sri Lanka in 1814. Born and nurtured into nobility, she fights to keep her dignity by rejecting to succumb to the destiny that falls onto her.
The film truly captures the essence of an auteur at work in Prasanna Vithanage purely based on the acting itself. One clear observation is that there is little to no dialogue spoken throughout the film. Language is expressed through the raw actions, emotions, and facial expressions of its characters, especially the two main characters leading us on a straightaway journey in the film.
There is a clash between two very different worlds based on the identities between Tikiri and Vijaya when they are forced to marry due to the dubious, complex politicking by one of the leaders of the Kandyan aristocracy. One of these individuals coming from a place of high social standing, whereas the other occupies low social standing or caste as commonly known in this part of the world.Even the scheming of Ehellapola Adigar, an aristocrat aligned with the British Empire, played by Ravindra Randeniya, from his short dialogues demonstrates his manipulative ways. Both Adigar and Shyam Fernando, who plays the aristocratic husband of Tikiri, speak little as he boosts himself for power in the Kingdom as an exchange for ridding their land of a king with South India ancestry.
These emotions and the lack of dialogue showcase the cold, harsh realities for both characters from the start in this predicament. Yet, the auteur brilliantly utilizes both editing, conducted by Sreekar Prasad, and cinematography as film techniques to present a slowly budding relationship.
Although not specifically focused on the relationship, the fear and anxiety illustrated from the facial expressions of Tikiri and the other noble women was excellent. One could even say the fear jumped off screen an onto the viewer too. The pounding on the door of the home by the soldiers of the current Kandyan kingdom sounded real to the point where I as a viewer turned to look if someone was actually knocking on something in the theater or outside of it. The sound edits here during this scene were just that creative by the auteur, Vithanage.
Despite the heavy subject matter, there were lighthearted moments in the film such as when Vijaya talks to the buffalo he successfully hunts about the trials and tribulations he experiences in this forced marriage. It may seem out of place, but, based on the laughs from some members of the audience, signals Vithanage’s attempt to find just the right balance between seriousness and lightheartedness so as not to depress the viewer too in a film such as this that demonstrates the full potential of the medium being an extension of art.
The cinematography of pre-colonial Sri Lanka, handled by Rajeev Ravi, evoked a feeling of immersion in the jungles of Sri Lanka hills through its unique sounds. This was paired with a very selective use of music by the director to highlight a subtly growing relationship of love between Tirikiri and Vijaya. The film is a protest, a spark of social commentary for the viewer to contemplate on the ills of social prejudice, discrimination, and injustice during this period in Sri Lanka and being human rather than being defined by identity. These techniques bring in the audience as inhabitants of the world projected to them onscreen, where they can hopefully empathize with a message that identity is a narrow tribal mentality and how we are all human looking for some form of social liberation.
One can see this as the film comes full circle in detailing the injustice to the outcast community in general and in both pre- and colonial Sri Lanka from beginning to end. It changes from an escapist attitude of Tikiri, seeing the outcast label as a prison to an attitude that fully embraces this new identity label upon witnessing the beauty of it through her husband, Vijaya. A motif to this end was her choice of clothing at the beginning of her forced marriage where she keeps herself clothed as a form of protest against the outcast community. But towards the end of the film, she deliberately removes them, which, at the same time, indirectly symbolized the corruption of the Kandyan aristocracy, towards the look of her new identity, a truer sense of liberation, rather than imprisonment. In other words, she saw value in the lifestyle and culture of the outcast community in pre colonial Sri Lanka that both she and Vijaya could progress.
The auteur, Prasanna Vithanage, is having a conversation with audiences to criticize the concept of caste and identity overall based on how it pushes us into a game of divide and conquer. An issue that is seen in politics today in Sri Lanka and in various countries across the globe. It is used as a smokescreen to blind us from how we are all human beings who can rise above the politics driven by identity labels, and be a part of something greater.
This film was produced by Sandya Salgado. It is currently being screened in Sri Lanka and worldwide. I had the opportunity to see it in Whitby, Ontario. Even though I have Sri Lankan ancestry, I cannot understand Sinhalese, but was grateful for it being subtitled in English. It allowed a viewer like me living in Canada to feel connected to a slice of the culture and history of Ceylon and Sri Lanka overall. I highly recommend people to see this film for both its faithfulness to film as an art form and its relevance on Sri Lankan culture, history, and society.
