Frangipani (Saya Pethi Kusuma) is a Sinhala film that has sought to break social boundaries through its portrayal of the LGBT community, in a society where the subject is still spoken of in hushed tones. Directed by Visakesa Chandrasekaram, a human rights lawyer and an independent arts practitioner, the film is brave, brash and unapologetic in its portrayal of the passions, sexual identities and complex lives of the characters. The story of Frangipani set in a traditional rural village entwines around childhood friends, Sarasi and Chamath. Affectionately calling each other ´Issi´ and ´Bassa´ they remain close till the arrival of Nalin. The attraction between Chamath and Nalin from the start is evident though Sarasi remains oblivious to it. As her dreams to marry Chamath crumble, with him rejecting her amorous advances, she manages to attract Nalin who despite being homosexual yearns to fit in with society and lead a life according to social norms. As Nalin and Sarasi begin a new life, Chamath too embarks on a difficult journey of self discovery within the folds of the LGBT community where he finds refuge after Nalin´s rejection.
The movie attempts to reveal the many struggles faced by the LGBT community, through its portrayal of traditional parents who think being homosexual can be fixed through an exorcism to the contempt of fellow siblings. The movie also successfully impresses upon the viewers the different paths those of the community struggle to take through the vastly different choices taken by Chamath and Nalin with one deciding to embrace his sexuality by meeting those of a similar orientation openly while living life as he pleases, whereas the other decides to try his hand at a life which is considered normal only to give into temptation in the end which sees the crumbling of his marriage to Sarasi.
While the subject of the film is relatively new to the Sri Lankan audience, the film can be slow with the storyline somewhat difficult to follow at times due to the dialogues between characters being limited. According to a Manager of a Cinema in which the movie was being played, many movie-goers seemed to have left the premises upset during the film due to the straightforward manner in which the relationship between the two men were shown. While the efforts of the director is commendable perhaps being too direct and his attempts to cover a large range of issues has been detrimental to taking the films message to the general public with the majority still seeing the LGBT community in a negative light.
Dasun Pathirana, Jehan Srikantha and Yashodha Rasaduni through their brilliant acting have played a pivotal role to ensure the success of the film. While the film seems to have encouraged discussion regarding the LGBT community somewhat in the Colombo circle the majority of the viewers appear to have been put off by the film perhaps due to the aforementioned reason which is disappointing.