Prasanna Jayakody

Prasanna Jayakody (In Sinhalese: ප්‍රසන්න ජයකොඩි) is a prominent Sri Lankan film director and screenwriter, internationally well-recognized for his distinctive cinematic accomplishments in contemporary Sri Lankan cinema. Philosophy and silver screen Harmonize at their finest with Jayakody in his movies, which primarily explore the human state of mind. His movies stand out as fusions of human emotions, senses and thoughts contrastingly set against the fractured socio-economic-cultural and religious canvas of Sri Lanka. At a global context, Jayakody’s cinema resonates the psychological-biological realities of mankind and arbitraries of human cognition against the concept of civilization. Jayakody’s eccentric cinematic world, in the absence of a flowing story, capitalizes on subtle but detailed images and intense characters.

Jayakody’s debut movie Sankara features a young Buddhist monk, Ananda, who visits a temple to restore the frescoes. Following several incidents, the young monk meets a beautiful woman who stirs his innermost worldly desires that a monk is prohibited to entertain. The movie reels out the internal turmoil the protagonist undergoes while trying to restore the frescoes; a task that ironically demands full concentration and inner peace. Sankara encompasses a deep philosophical and psychological portrayal of the complexities of the human mindset. The young Buddhist monk is thrown into a situation where his restrained self is in conflict with his innermost raw sexual desires. From a psychological approach, the protagonist suffers from anxiety, which arises with the conflict between his sensuous desires for the girl and the fact that he should restrain himself as a monk.

Jayakody’s next film Karma (2010) is a plethora of emotions woven together into a microscopic image of three lives interconnected for all peculiar reasons. The movie deals with a young man, Piyal, 23, suffering from the guilt of his mother’s death, who ultimately finds solace in attending to his neighbor, a 32 year old woman who is diagnosed with cancer. Piyal’s initial curiosity about the girl, wheels into a sexual attraction and then finally into empathy. He attempts to redeem himself from the guilt of his mother’s death by attending to the sick woman. Her inattentive lover learns that Piyal has taken care of his girlfriend and embraces a similar kind of guilt that Piyal was suffering from. Concentrating on the dualities of life, the movie takes the viewer through emotional turbulence.

In 28, (2014) country bumpkins Abasiri and Mani won't say no to a trip to Colombo, even if the occasion is a sad one: they have to bring back the corpse of a woman from their village. When Abasiri learns the identity of the woman, the mood changes—and the problems begin. The standard method of using an undertaker would cost too much, so in the end, it has to be an ice cream van and its unwitting driver that transports the coffin through the breath-taking Sri Lankan landscape. Layer by layer, this melancholic road movie gains depth, uncovering social chasms, but without losing its light touch.

His first film direction came through Sankara in 2007. The film won several awards in both local and international award festivals, including the Silver Pyramid award at the Cairo International Film Festival that same year. The film also showcased awards for the Best Debut Director and the NETPAC Award for the Best Asian Film at the Kerala International Film Festival in the same year. Sankara also secured the Jury special prize at the Turkey Silk Road Film Festival. His next movie Karma, which came in 2013, was nominated for several international awards. Jayakody’s third cinematic expression 28 was named the Best Asian Film at the Amsterdam Film Awards in 2014. The film 28 also received the Best Director and the Best Actor awards at the SAARC Film Festival in 2018.

After challenging the conventional Sri Lankan theater, Jayakody then turned to excel in the Sri Lankan Television Drama genre with his exceptional works of art; Nisala Vila (The Still Pond) in 1999, Imadiyamankada (At the Crossing) in 2000, Sanda Amawakayi (The Moon Eclipsed) in 2002, and Hada Vila Sakmana in 2003. These dramas secured several state awards, including the Best Tele Drama of the Year. Jayakody’s Awasana Horawa (The Final Hour) in 1998 won the Best Young Director award at the Sumathi Tele Awards.

He completed his education from Taxila Central College, Horana. Following a series of short dramas, Jayakody stunned the structured traditional Sri Lankan theater in 1993 with his debut Sevenali Saha Minissu (Shadows and Men), an absurd drama which dealt with the complexities of the human condition, and realities of life. It won the gifted young dramatist, 21 years of age at the time, the Best Stage Drama award in the State Drama Festival in Sri Lanka that year.

Jayakody, born on 25 August, 1968, in Horana, embarked on a journey of artistic expression with his excellent skills in painting. He gained his first international award from the government of Japan, winning an Art competition while he was still schooling. Art, being the base of his visual reading, Jayakody cherishes the memory of drawing cover page vectors for his late father Jayasena Jayakody; a celebrated, award-winning author who has showcased three State Literary Awards in the Best Sinhala Novel category.