None can comprehend what’s happening today systematically. Every occurrence has many facets of its underneath, surface, within and its surroundings. Attempting to understand them all will entangle their subjects in chaos further.
Against this backdrop, contemporary artistes find it difficult to express what they fathom in society in linear storytelling. They, therefore, experiment different formats to tell what they really discern in the livings, animated and their world. Sometimes, their audience will be in dilemma with these different expressions unless they are willing to contemplate hidden nuances of those intricate formats.
Gripping the unknown
A call from a friend of his schooldays leads a film director (Shyam Fernando) to surrealism which turns him doubting if his wife (Yashoda Wimaladharma) and two children are safe and secure until he returns home.
Controversial film director Asoka Handagama this time introduces us Asandhimitta and enmeshes us in a mess where we can have many things to contemplate or just leave behind everything we viewed in the theatre that puzzles us and be mum.
Asandhimitta (Nilmini Sigera) is extraordinary. She is extraordinary in physique as well as in mind. Society ridicules her for her gigantic body even though it attempts to satiate, in the meantime, its perverted desires with her flesh.
Fantasy Vs reality
Deprived of love, Asandhimitta weaves her own fantasy where she finds a good partner Wickram (Dharmapriya Dias). But she herself experiences his imperfection with time.
Eventually, she is dragged into falsehood, myths, sorcery, murders and into the guillotine by the very person she thought as her partner. Her spilt mind creates an older version of the younger one she met which denotes the evil of her own sub-mind.
Asandhimitta is a novella written by Saman Wickramarachchi. The novel itself has no story as such but a series of entangled events. The author weaves characters of Asandhimitta surrealistically but the story flows realistically as well when the need arises.
Male dominance over females never ceases. Wickrema, Asandhimitta’s partner, though he seems her slave, still exploits her in numerous ways. He manipulates ignorance of society and exploits Asandhimitta to carry out his plans for profits. When one ploy is foiled, he cajoles Asandhimitta into another, and another.
Schizophrenia
The story that Asandhimitta tells is mainly a product of her schizophrenic mind. When the film director pursues her story, he finds from her closest neighbour that she had no close relationship with a person called Wickrama and that she had no two children either.
Surprised, the film director realises his wife and two children are alone at home and that he has to protect them. He fast drives to his home to find it in the dark. He enters the house and comes to his sense only when he sees her wife and children are to a surprise welcome for him on his birthday.
Once he realises his world is intact, his happiness surges as Asandhimitta is laughing at us after hangmen lifted her to put a cord around her neck for the wrongs she has not committed.
Nilmini Sigera stars her role brilliantly as Dharmapriya Dias as Wickram shows his mettle as a veteran actor. The other performers, too, do justice to their parts. Kapila Poogalaarachch’s music enlivens the story.
Changing Norms
Asoka has directed his films changing norms of the usual cinematography. His attempts did not bring him applauds every time.
He was pelted stones and lauded at many international and local cinema festivals. Asandhimitta has been nominated for Kim Jiseok Award and Nilmini Sigera won the Yakushi Pearl Award at the Osaka Film Festival for her role ‘Asandhimitta’ in the film.
Asoka Handagama with his new film Asandhimitta discusses the male dominance over the females. Even though it is the immediate realization one may have, Asandhimitta talks about many other aspects of society including its politics.
It, in fact, walks more talks that are untold. That is where Handagama nails his brass – on the conscience of its audience.
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