Paradise is a 2024 Sri Lankan-Indian co-produced drama film, co-written and directed by Prasanna Vithanage. The film is presented by Mani Ratnam and Siva Ananth under the ÃÂ Madras Talkies banner and produced by Newton Cinema. It stars Roshan Mathew, Darshana Rajendran, Shyam Fernando and Mahendra Perera and tells the story of a married couple whose anniversary vacation goes awry in Sri Lanka.
Paradise had its world premiere at the 28th Busan International Film Festival on 7 October 2023, where it won the Kim Jiseok Award.
An Indian tourist couple arrives in the hill country of crisis-ridden Sri Lanka to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. As events take an unexpected turn conflicts deepen, revealing cracks in their relationship.
Paradise had its world premiere at the ÃÂ 28th Busan International Film Festival on 7 October 2023 where it won the Kim Jiseok Award.
The film was screened at the Mumbai Film Festival in the âÂÂIcons: South Asiaâ section on 29 October 2023 for its South Asia premiere.
Paradise had its European premiere at the 30th Vesoul International Film Festival 2024. Subsequent premieres included the Beijing International Film Festival in China, the Red Lotus Asian Film Festival in Austria, and the Asiatiska Film Festival 2024 in Sweden.
The North American premiere took place at the New York Indian Film Festival 2024 and the Australian premiere occurred at the ÃÂ Sydney Film Festival 2024.
Paradise was featured in the âÂÂFeaturesâ section of the 71st Sydney Film Festival on 13 June 2024.
The film was released in theatres worldwide on 28 June 2024 and ÃÂ is now available on streaming platforms including Prime Video, Manorama Max and Simply South.
Lee Marshall reviewing for ScreenDaily at Busan wrote, "Moving through the narrative with admirable dexterity, despite some contrived passages, it's a well-made drama buoyed up by a raft of fine performances."
Saibal Chatterjee reviewing for NDTV rated the film 4.5/5 and wrote, "Unswerving in its grasp of both philosophy and psychology, Prasanna Vithanage's Paradise is a masterly evocation of the frailty of 'man' when faced with a crisis."
Santanu Das reviewing for Hindustan Times dubbed the film as "a stirring, important piece of work" and wrote, "As the drama inches its way closer to that shocking denouement, Paradise grapples to interrogate questions around politics and the state."
Priyanka Sundar reviewing for Firstpost at Mumbai Film Festival rated the film 3.5/5 and wrote, "By the end, whose side you are on speaks volumes about who you are as a person than of the film itself, the film brings about this reflection of self, and of society with poignancy and that more than anything makes Paradise a winner."
Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com rated 4/5 stars and observed, "Prasanna Vithanage's Paradise leaves the audience to read between the lines and draw their own conclusions about the frailty of human nature, and how easily violence seizes the most unexpected prey. "
The film won the Kim Jiseok Award at the Busan International Film Festival. This award is presented to two outstanding films from the Jiseok competition section, which features new works by Asian directors who have directed more than three feature films.