Movie still used with permission from Vindana Ariyawansa.
“Dirty, Yellow, Darkness” explores the reality of living with a mental illness and finding treatment for it in Sri Lanka. The main character in the film, Vishwa, played by Shyam Fernando, portrays a man struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA ─ A cowriter and codirector of a film expected for release in Sri Lankan cinemas this year says he hopes his work will reveal a fresh perspective on mental health issues.
The film, “Dirty, Yellow, Darkness,” is the maiden production of brothers Kalpana and Vindana Ariyawansa, who cowrote and codirected the film. The story, while not a documentary, is loosely based on Vindana Ariyawansa’s own experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The movie’s Sinhala title is “Premaya Nam,” meaning “Love Is.” It addresses issues of mental health and recovery through the prism of a love story, and was produced with the active involvement of Sri Lanka’s National Institute of Mental Health. Portions of the movie were made there, marking the first time the institute has opened its doors to the cinema industry. Actors observed the institute’s patients and staff to learn how to correctly portray their behavior.
The film was produced in 2014, has been screened at international film festivals including in Shanghai, Kerala, Beijing and Goa and was screened at the Palm Beach International Film Festival in April.
In a candid interview with Global Press Journal’s Maneshka Borham, Vindana Ariyawansa opens up about exploring the darkest period of his own life. Here are excerpts from that interview:
What inspired you to write the script for this film?
My own struggle inspired me. I have several passions in my life, and film is one of them. It’s my favorite form of art, and films have inspired me and even changed my life. I wanted to return that to the audience in my capacity. But what inspired me most to write this story is my own personal struggle. I do not wish that upon anybody. So it was what inspired me.
Did you have a specific objective in writing and coproducing a film on mental health issues, a subject that is considered taboo in Sri Lankan society?
My main objective was to be truthful to the original story. We wanted to be 100 percent truthful and authentic. We did not want any dramatization or [an] exaggerated portrayal of mental health. We wanted to stick to what happened exactly.
It was difficult to strip myself in public in this way and portray my life story so that everyone can see it, as people can be very judgmental. But I took it up as a challenge, as I thought it will be a breakthrough. I have been on the receiving end of this struggle due to people being unaware and uneducated about mental health and mental patients. I decided this is the best answer I can give them, showing them how it really is and how I came to terms with that. And also show that it could happen to anyone, and how you deal with it and accept [it] is important. I wanted to give people like me hope that with compassion, love and care, patients can overcome many obstacles.
What are the personal challenges you faced in portraying your life experiences in the film?
I had to tone things down. What you see in the film is less than 10 percent of my suffering. I had to tone it down, as people would not have believed such things are possible. [Especially,] it was very strong content, so [it] would have been difficult for people to stomach it for one and a half hours.
Also, on set, only my brother and the lead actor knew this story was about me. It was not revealed to the cast and crew, because if they saw me as a crazy person directing them with that mentality it might not work. So we hid it during the shoot.
In what ways did the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) support the film, and what was the significance of getting their help?
It was huge. Because for the authenticity of the film we wanted to portray the NIHM just as it was.
We had the help of Dr. Kapila Ranasinghe and other staff members. Because of that, we were able to accomplish our task without disturbing their everyday operations. When we first did the casting, none of them had an idea about how mental patients are like or how the hospital was like. Ironically, if you ask a kid to portray a character, there are always two characters that he picks: a drunkard and a mental patient, because there are stereotypes. When we did auditions, this was clear, with people portraying Down syndrome characteristics and other things and not actual mental patients. So we needed to change their perception and needed to give them a look as to their actual lives.
Each cast member was also assigned to various patients in order to observe them, from schizophrenia patients to bipolar and other issues. We asked them to observe and learn their behavior so they can make an authentic portrayal. Many people, after seeing the movie, asked if they are real patients.
Does the support of the NIMH indicate there is an attitude change among mental health service and care providers, or a change in their policy of engagement with media?
Yes, I do believe so. When the film is released and people get to see it, they will realize in a country like ours, with a limited budget, the amazing service they provide there now. They provide patients with three meals a day, medicine and everything else for more than a 1,000 patients daily. Because of that, we believe we were able to portray a positive image of the establishment, which will help a lot in the long run. People will seek help instead of hide their illness.
As for their engagement with media, it is hard to say, because media has exploited them repeatedly by dramatizing mental health. So I am not sure if it has changed.
What were the challenges you faced in ensuring that mental health issues are depicted in a realistic manner?
Everyone expects a freak show or circus. They like to see shocking moments that may only actually happen once or twice. We wanted to stay away from that.
With the freedom we were given, we could have depicted any of those elements and by that get priority at festivals, because they appreciate the shock value and oddities coming from the Third World. They have stereotypes of our movies. They either want war, sex, poverty, abuse and stuff like that, so this movie stayed away from all of that and gives a positive outlook.
How did the existing taboo in society regarding mental health issues affect your own struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder?
I became a social pariah. People judge you, talk behind your back. They don’t take you seriously and make fun of you. I stomached it somehow. I knew it was not their fault as they were not aware and could not comprehend these kind of situations.
What was hard for me was that my wife, even though she had patience to a certain extent, but when she filed for divorce, she used and made various accusations of my mental illness to support that. That hurt me.
I come from a family of artists, and we grew up among the circle of other famous artists. Colombo is a small place, and I was high profile, as I was also a diplomat when I worked as acting ambassador to Cuba. I had a lot of perks in life. Because of that, when people hear of such dark news, they find it interesting. My family suffered more than me.
The film, I think, was part of my therapy. It helped me as I went through depression through my 30s because I was suffering from OCD. I quit my job and lost my wife. By 37, I had nothing and had to restart my whole life over again. I have even contemplated suicide, but [the] only reason I didn’t do it [was that] my family was famous and they would have to live with it. It was a dark period. It is hard to imagine that I have survived it.
Do you believe the film can change public perception regarding mental health in the country?
I believe so, due to the reception we got from the audience.
There was an amazing experience in Jaffna where the film was watched by an audience who spoke no Sinhalese and watched with subtitles. They were really moved by it. In Jaffna, you see a lot of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], and they have a culture where they hide mental illness, just as us. They really related to it. This was the best cultural bridge on our part for reconciliation. We were really accepted there.*
* See Editor’s Note below
Did you receive any flak for creating a movie on such a topic?
No, not at all. Everyone praised us and appreciated the fact I had the courage to do something, and for picking such a tough topic and not dramatizing it. We gave the audience hope and a positive outlook.
* Editor’s Note: Sri Lanka’s civil war stretched from the early 1980s until 2009, during which time Jaffna, along with other portions of the country, experienced widespread violence.
