Features
Recent Indian films outclass most Hollywood movies
The major film awards – the 96th Oscars or Academy Awards – were awarded at a glittering event last weekend. Christopher Nolan directed Oppenheimer won eight Oscars, being nominated for 13. In all it has won 30 trophies. Record for most Oscars is jointly held by Ben Hur, Titanic and Lord of the Rings, each winning 11 Oscars. This global interest in films gave me the reason to write about an impression that has grown in me after seeing Netflix films. The selection offered in different areas of the world appears to be different. We in this geographical area seem to be having more eastern films, Hindi and Tamil mostly. My son in the US advises me to watch this or that film – not available in my Netflix streaming.
I came to the conclusion conveyed in my title this Sunday after seeing a couple of movies a week – a justifiable time-spender at my age. I watched Julia Roberts in a film about breaking up a marriage – My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) after watching a Hindi film and found the Hollywood film trite and trivial – all froth, bubble and glamour against the starkly realistic Hindi film. Why? The Indian films I have watched recently have all dealt cleverly with Indian social norms, customs or beliefs. Messages have been conveyed skillfully and adroitly, with no in-your-face sermonizing. I also seem to relate more to the background, clothes, even acting styles of the Hindi films which certainly are not those Bollywood blockbusters directed and produced for mass entertainment.
General family norm
The very best was the Mira Nair directed adaptation of Vikram Seth’s huge novel published in 1993: A Suitable Boy. The film was screened in 2020 with BBC co-producing. Entertainment was its top priority and the custom/norm presented principally was that a young girl needed to be married off and the usual practice of a mother’ quest for a suitable marriage partner, roping in others to help her.
The story line goes thus: in 1951 when girls had more freedom and went in for higher studies, vivacious Lata Mehra is in university and develops a relationship with a Muslim co-student. Knowing her mother wants her to consent to an arranged marriage, she suggests they elope. Caution and seeing things clearer, he refuses a sudden decision. Finally after much searching, she consents to a suitable, simple man who works for a Czech shoe factory in India.
The themes Seth deals with are limited autonomy to girls of good families; marriage being the be all and end all in mothers’ views for their daughters. With this, he introduces sub themes – the Muslim Hindu conflict; rich men’s penchant for mistresses, lovely courtesans who live in luxury through their availability and singing prowess; and justice and injustice. The film is a brilliant classic for all time.
Dalits and discrimination
These two issues and concerns were so successfully portrayed in the documentary titled Daughters of Destiny which Academy Award winning director Vanessa Roth filmed for seven years chronicling the growing up of four girls living through term time at Shanthi Bhavan and returning to their slum homes for holiday months. Shanthi Bhavan is the home offered to 24 Dalit children each year – 12 boys, 12 girls – from the age of four to adulthood and even funding university education.
Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project was the brain child of Dr Abraham George, Indian American businessman, assisted by his brother Ajit. In 1995 the non-profit organization – The George Foundation – was set up and two years later Shanti Bhavan opened its welcoming doors to very poor, outcast Dalit children. Based in Bangalore, Karnataka, it has at present 300 students who are taught in the English medium. I wrote about this film earlier. The success of helping Dalit youth to integrate themselves in society is wonderful. The messages were strong: all are equal; helping and sharing is humaneness; caring and guiding reap good results.
Widows and stigmatization
A 2018 film directed with a sure hand, produced with sophistication and acted with constraint and skill was Sir. Directed by Rohena Gera it is a romantic film which subtly deals with two Indian slur-issues: the negative, looked down upon status of widows and social class divisions.
12th Fail
Ashwin returns to Mumbai from New York to support his father’s building business and to get married. However, the marriage does not take place. The live-in maid, Ratna, hired by his mother in anticipation of the marriage, is kept on. She is no more than a shadow in Ashwin’s flat, running it perfectly while cooking and serving his meals, and having a life of her own in spare hours with another maid. Ratna’s ambition is to be a dress designing seamstress. Getting to know this as she asks permission to be out of the flat for afternoons, Ashwin buys her a sewing machine.
Things come to a head when she is asked by his mother to cook and serve at a party. She does it but inadvertently spills a dish on a socialite who berates her. Ashwin is upset, further concerned when he sees Ratna with other servants seated on the floor of the kitchen having dinner. She tells him she was widowed at 17 and ostracized in her village. Her aim is to educate her sister and better herself. He realizes he is in love with her But contains himself. Much later, he kisses her.
She leaves her job and his flat and moves to her sister’s slum tenement; a relationship not being at all suitable or possible. He tells his father he intends marrying Ratna, goes back to New York after arranging her apprenticeship with a dress designer. Ratna settles to a poor life again. He phones her. She who always called him Sir, realizing his sincerity and her love for him, addresses him as Ashwin. The film cleverly ends at this point. No obvious comment on issues dealt with but succeeded with finesse.
Corruption vs Honesty
12th Fail – a 2023 Hindi film subtitled in English was truly remarkable. It is directed, produced and written by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, based on the non-fiction book by Anurag Pathak of Manoj Kumar Sharma, born and bred in dacoit infested Chambal where corruption is rife and even school students are encouraged to cheat to pass the all-important Grade 12 exam. Manoj’s father being totally honest is dismissed from his job for hitting his corrupt boss with his shoe.
Sir
Manoj, influenced by a straight police officer, does not cheat at his exam. He fails while others pass. Determination and extreme hard living, but helped by friends, Manoj does pass the final exam to enter the Indian Police Service. The man in the interview board rejects him as 12th Failed but the women pick up his honesty. Manoj returns home in his police uniform.
The film received wide acclaim and won five Filmfare awards for best director, film and actor.
Other social issues
I fail to recall the name of the Hindi film that dealt with child abuse, trafficking and prostitution, but it was excellent. The story wove around a woman rights activist who met a young girl who had been traumatized, but kept mum. The activist felt impelled to investigate further and uncovered thugs in cohorts with the management of a home for destitute children. The girl tells her tale, many women and children are saved and the crime perpetrators duly punished.
Martial violence is the social theme dealt with in Darling. This very pretty and very young girl succumbs to the violence of her husband, by nature violent but taking to excessive alcohol intake too. The film started off well, but the girl turns tables and keeps husband captive in their flat with her mother living in the same building, conniving. The story turned farcical, lightweight and rather ludicrous. I gave up watching it.
To look forward to To Kill a Tiger
directed by Nisha Pahuja is about a family in Jharkamd, India, who campaign for justice after their teenage daughter is brutally raped. Deepa Mehta, Dev Patel, Priyanka Chopra, among others, were co-producers. It was released in Toronto in 2022 and in US in 2023 with
The film was nominated as Best Documentary Feature for an Oscar this year, competing with 20 Days in Mariupol (Ukraine war), Bobi Wine: the People’s President, Four Daughters and The Eternal Memory. The war film won the Oscar; however honour enough for Canada and India to be nominated.
Streaming on Netflix and widespread screening was delayed till the 96th Oscar ceremony this year was over. Hence here is a film to be seen, again assuredly dealing with skill, sensitivity and finesse on a scourge rampant in India: rape.
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )