{"id":245850,"date":"2026-02-14T20:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=245850"},"modified":"2026-02-20T04:52:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:22:59","slug":"paradise-2023-a-paradise-built-on-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/paradise-2023-a-paradise-built-on-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Paradise (2023): A Paradise Built On Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ajith Rajapaksa<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ajith Rajapaksa<\/p><\/div>\n

I watched Paradise<\/a><\/span> for the second time, first in the cinema and recently on Netflix. On a second viewing, its political and moral layers felt even sharper. Paradise is a 2023 Sri Lankan-Indian co-produced drama film, co-written and directed by Prasanna Vithanage<\/a><\/span>. The story unfolds during Sri Lanka\u2019s \u201cAragalaya,\u201d a period when ordinary people were enduring immense hardship amid economic collapse. Yet, despite the turmoil, tourists continued to arrive, drawn largely by the country\u2019s affordability. While the film focuses on a seemingly intimate story of a couple on holiday, its real canvas is far broader. It quietly interrogates privilege, power, and the moral vacuum of those who hold power.<\/p>\n

The film centres on a middle-class Indian couple, Kesav and Amritha, visiting Sri Lanka at a moment of deep national crisis. For them, the country is simply a cheap holiday destination, and the protests, shortages, and desperation of its people remain peripheral to their experience. A striking contrast emerges between the unrest in the streets and the insulated world of tourism. While citizens queue for fuel and confront systemic failure, tourists sip cocktails and pursue curated leisure. Meanwhile, locals cling to the comforting myth that someone, like the legendary King Ravana, will awaken to rescue the nation. This myth becomes symbolic, reflecting a collective longing for a saviour in times of despair. Vithanage amplifies the moral and visual divide between public suffering and private leisure, presenting tourism as a lens through which the dynamics of concentrated wealth and economic privilege are revealed: extractive, insulated, and fundamentally indifferent.<\/p>\n