MUMBAI: Renowned Sri Lankan director Prasanna Vithanage’s Oba Nathuwa Oba Ekka (With You, Without You) is all set to see a limited release in India with PVR Director’s Rare. Adapted from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella, ‘The Meek One,’ the film casts National Film Award winning Indian actress Anjali Patil and Sri Lankan actor Shyam Fernando in the lead. Originally a Sinhala and Tamil-language film, With You, Without You will release with English subtitles in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad on 13 June.
Set in post war Sri Lanka, With You, Without You is the story of two people who collide accidentally. Through these characters, the film expresses a deep and seemingly unbridgeable chasm that conflict almost always creates. The two ends of the 30 year-old bloody civil war in Sri Lanka, 45 year-old Sri Lankan man Sarathsiri (Shyam Fernando) and 24 year-old Tamil girl Selvi (Anjali Patil) fall in love only to discover that the colour of love is blue, and life, shades of grey.
Talking about the film, director Prasanna Vithanage said, “When I decided to adapt ‘The Meek One’ into a film, I based it upon the biggest issue of Sri Lanka which is the ethnic conflict. We live in a society which still has unhealed wounds from a war that lasted over thirty years and this confrontation of a Sinhalese man and a Tamil minority woman became the dramatic premise of my script. Their struggle with their own past for me was a metaphor for the struggles of the nation as a whole.”
Added PVR JMD Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, “We are extremely pleased to announce the release of Sri Lankan film, With You, Without You in India. The film highlights a sensitive issue in the most touching way and we are sure that the audience will associate with the film, taking away the message that the director, Prasanna Vithanage has tried to convey. We look forward to continuing our association with the international film industries and bring quality films to our patrons in India.”
With You, Without You has been screened and applauded at several Film Festivals like Chicago International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, International film festival of India, Kerala International Film Festival and Hong Kong International Film Festival to name a few. The film bagged the Russian Critic’s Prize at Sakhalin International Film Festival, SIGNIS Award at Milano African Asian Film Festival, Best Actress – Anjali Patil at 43rd International Film Festival of India etc.
