Dirty, Yellow, Darkness

It is difficult sometimes not to look for excuses to dodge a movie simply because we are naturally prone to brush it off as another middling production. Only after the first ten minutes in to Premaya Nam (Dirty, Yellow, and Darkness), directed by two brothers, Kalpana and Vindana Ariyawansa, I realized how close I came to missing perhaps one of the top ten ever Sinhala movies came about in the last few decades.

The name of the movie sounds familiar. It's all about love. But sans the love songs, it was far from the lovers pirouetting by the proverbial bed of flowers in the park. What it offered me instead was the most thought-provoking piece of movie artistry in recent memory in Sri Lanka. It discussed in dramatic form the narrative of mental health and its sub-narrative - the struggle of families coping with it. I sat spellbound trying to comprehend this tragedy in its most damning and ugly form, not just in Sri Lanka but near universal. But the makers of the movie didn't obfuscate the silvery rays of hope we have in this crisis - the passion and resolve of human heart to confront it straight up.

Vishwa (Shaym Fernando), suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Samadi (Samanalee Fonseka) are recently married professionals. They are trying to keep the marriage from breaking asunder with complications accentuated by OCD. With their helplessness (Vishwa's) and unhappiness (Samadi's), parents are hurling accusations at each other. Samadi's parents are alleging that she was tricked in to marry someone with this disability. The two families and their immediate circle of friends are trying to cope with its manifestations. I won't give away the ending but the directors with singular artistic pedigree have banded together to present the daunting and emotional story of these families and friends caught in a private struggle, often spilling in to the public. The debut effort of the directors (with English subtitles) had been aptly complimented with superb acting of Fernando and Fonseka, kin of the first lady of Sinhala movies. They lead a collection of characters taking us on a journey to the depth of misery not many are even aware as prevalent in our midst.

The story shines to us the deep bowers of love in its manifold shades working as bulwarks trying to lift off a cultural stigma weighing on us. OCD or any other psychological condition affects heavily on those who are unfortunate to become entangled in it - folks who may be your friends, relatives or complete strangers. But the message movie makers want us take home is that a corpus of supporting players can act in varying degree of participation and involvement to help folks imperiled with any psychological illness, not just OCD.

A good portion of the story takes place at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Angoda, a suburb of Colombo. It's been in existence in different forms since 1920s. Because of this affiliation, the word Angoda has been engrained in day to day life and freely expressed in metonymic form to identify mental disabilities and all its censuring inferences. I believe the contribution of this movie to dislodge this inveterate cultural misnomer has found its target. The movie brings to light not just the struggle of the families entwined in OCD, but how useful it is to seek help and resources from this national treasure, NIMH. Premaya Nam shows us snippet of life there which is often so moving we cannot control tears watching and hearing its cries for help. The exhausting but ever the patient and superb professionals at various levels of involvement at the NIMH not just bring happy endings, but show us in stark reality the stigma they face in their own lives, too, merely for their affiliation with such an environment.

It is not an overstatement that Premaya Nam deserves to be on a front row seat in the pantheon of Sri Lankan classics.

Writer's most recent book is Echoes of the Millstone: An Ethnographic Account of a Village in Sri Lanka (2014).

...because this movie has it all.

As someone who has dealt with OCD throughout his lifetime, I found DIRTY, YELLOW, DARKNESS to be a starkly honest (sometimes to the point of being a brutal) look into the mind of someone suffering with obsessive compulsive behaviors. More accurately, this film looks through the eyes of the afflicted, rather than focusing on him as if he were a subject to be studied.

What struck me most about DIRTY, YELLOW, DARKNESS was its ability to blend little moments of humor (with both spoken and visual comedic beats) in with the drama and seriousness of what can be an admittedly debilitating disease. Just when things were getting possibly a little too heavy, these beautiful little moments of lightheartedness would pop up which not only acted as a way to move the story along, but also help ground our lead character in a very human and sympathetic way. I think there's a fine line between making fun of someone's disease and pointing out the admittedly funny moments that are sometimes born from it, and the Ariyawansa brothers handled that balance with perfection.

Of course, those kinds of balances become key to a film like this, which finds itself blending the seriousness of a drama, the emotion of a love story, and the lighthearted humor of a romantic comedy. The honest truth is this film is all of these things, and more, and therefore falls into its own genre category. Personally, I always find myself loving movies that aren't easily defined or categorized, mostly because these types of films are rarely made today. Hopefully this film will serve as a creative beacon to future filmmakers and show them the true potential of what a film can be.

Visually, the film is stunning. With bright, vibrant colors and a beautiful range of visual contrasts (from the sterile environment of our lead's apartment in Colombo, to the more dirty and dingy atmosphere of the hospital he checks himself into, for example), Kalpana's art school background is more than apparent in the frames of DIRTY, YELLOW, DARKNESS.

There are literally hundreds of films released every year that are worthy of being seen by the masses, but because of today's studio system most of the world watches the same ten or twelve movies each year. This year, do yourself a favor and seek out DIRTY, YELLOW, DARKNESS, because in addition to it being different from most of the films out there today, it's also better than most of them, too.

An important film that portrays the stigma and misconceptions around mental health and its treatment through a touching love story. Beautifully shot, well cast and directed, the film treats a dour topic with sensitivity and whimsy. The story, woven around a typical family from Colombo, Sri Lanka and shot on location at the primary mental health facility in the country, provides a glimpse into not just the perceptions and attitudes towards mental disorders but the trials and tribulations of its treatment. A brave undertaking by the Ariyawansa brothers to veer away from the tried and tested story lines to tell a deeply personal story. Masterfully shot by Jaan Shenberger.

When there is nothing left to live for, there is love. This film is powerful. Premaya Nam demands to be felt.What is sane? What is insane? Is there a way out? Do you want to get out? In a day where prescriptions often mask a problem, this film is determined to get to the root. This movie slowly snatches you up in its demeanor. It works emotionally well juxtaposing comedy with sincerity. The combination leaves you wanting to laugh, but not, wanting to break down, but wait. Resulting in a building tension that must be exonerated. Shyam Fernando leads this fantastically. He shows up alone and leaves with friends. A corner of his heart has been exposed!

Dirty, Yellow, Darkness aka Premaya Nam is a love story wrapped around a very touchingly personal story about OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). What I liked most about this film besides how well shot it is by Jaan Shenberger is how honest its portrayal of OCD is. I really admired how it dealt with the cultural stigmas of someone dealing with a mental health illness. It affects one's personal life the most and can severely harm a marriage. Rather than show empathy, understanding, or care, the main character's in-laws make his life worse by degrading him as well as their own daughter for marrying someone with a mental illness. Yet it still makes the in-laws rightfully upset or disturbed. They wonder: "Is this mental illness passed down to the children?" Overall, I was deeply pleased by how cathartic this movie is, especially for anyone who has had to deal with an illness that was beyond their control, let alone being different. I applaud the directors Kalpa and Vindana Ariyawansa for tackling such an unseen subject matter. It is wrapped in a love story to make the journey easier to bear. All in all, they did a phenomenal job, from production to emotional impact that doesn't flinch away from the difficult times one goes through living with OCD.