Quotes

War is an operation of capital, based on profits, and so the media always presents the opinions of the ruling class on this subject. Artists however, have the capacity to tear away these dominant views and expose the reality of military conflict.

The biggest crimes are not just shootings and killings, but deny fulfillment of life. This happens to so many in our country.

More than half of my life was spent in the Sri Lanka's civil war. We were mere spectators of carnage and brutal warfare. My inability made me make movies on how war has affected us. In the process, I also realised that films are my means of keeping sanity.

I always believe that in cinema, every moment, a character is built by beats. To bring out this beat, without missing out on one and make the audiences heart beat the same as the characters. That is the hardest thing.

Whatever intensity you try to bring out as a director is impossible without good actors.

In the last four decades people of Sri Lanka become polarised on ethnic and religious lines. Raising issues is difficult because of the polarization. But without understanding the past you can't move ahead.

So far, I've aimed my camera at the society in general. This time, I wanted to aim the camera at myself. I was determined to make a film about my own profession. That's how 'Akasa Kusum' (Flowers of the Sky) came about.

Artists should be ahead of their people. They capture things that are undercurrent, that are not being thought, we bring what's underneath, out into public domain.

I never did a film for money or fame, I did it to tell a story. This is what drove me to make my films.