RIFLE RANGE BOY: #Paradise

Paradise (Malayalam; 2024)
Director: Prasanna Vithanage

https://www.filmibeat.com/malayalam/movies/paradise.html

This is one of those movies that keeps viewers in a loop, wondering about the film's trajectory and guessing the message it is trying to convey. A tale of a loving young yuppie Malayalee couple celebrating their fifth anniversary in Sri Lanka, just as Sri Lankans muster the will to protest against widespread price hikes, is refreshing. Like most tourists, they indulge in a certain amount of poverty porn as they go on a peeking at the countryside during their Ramayana tour. Listening to the tour guide narrate the local folklore about what happened where and when, they cannot help but sneer at his explanation. As smart alecs often do, these IT professionals mock his outdated, condescending explanations of what transpired during the events surrounding Ravana's abduction of Sita.

Their arrogance, particularly the husband's, becomes evident in the way he answers his phone during the tour and in his dealings with the guest house staff.

The real story begins when a group of robbers break into their room and run away with their laptop and mobile phones. The police are seen dragging their feet amid the ongoing citizen unrest, with no sign of their devices. The climax occurs when the relatives of a suspect, who dies after police brutality, arrive to seek vengeance. As the relatives throw stones and shranels, the police and tourists defend themselves. In the chaos, the tourist's husband is shot in the head by the wife, possibly deliberately — who can say?

Then everything falls into place. All the earlier ramblings about different points of view and women blaming when something goes wrong make sense now.

In Sri Lankan folklore version of Ramayana, Ravana never died but remains in a slumber, waiting to spring out when Sri Lanka needs help. Many versions of the Ramayana exist, but the one attributed to Valmiki is regarded as the authentic account. There is even a non-violent version in the Jain Ramayana. In some variations, Sita is not the demure maiden in distress waiting for rescue but a fighter herself. It all depends on who is telling the story. The hunt story would be incomplete without the lion's account.

After the robbery, the husband begins blaming his wife for possibly leaving the window open, which gave the robbers an opportunity to enter. That initiates a rift in their relationship. A few minor issues here and there cause them to drift apart to the point that the wife starts to despise her husband. That could have led her to shoot him. Sometimes doing the right thing can push someone towards the wrong end. Under extreme pressure, the superficial veneer that protects a bond can shatter just like that.

(P.S. Thanks, JM, for the recommendation.)