FUNNY BOY

FUNNY BOY

Directed by Deepa Mehta Starring Rehan Mudannayake, Brandon Ingram, Nimmi Harasgama, Ali Kazmi, Seema Biswas, Agam Darshi

SYNOPSIS Adapted from Shyam Selvadurai’s queer classic about a Tamil boy Arjie’s sexual awakening – from a child deemed “funny” to a teenager enamoured of his male classmate Shehan (Rehan Mudannayake) – Funny Boy plays out amidst political tensions between Sinhalese and Tamils, in the lead up to Sri Lanka’s bloody 30-year civil war. The film chronicles Arjie’s struggle to find balance and self-love despite the absence of empathy and understanding.

Widely known for her Elements trilogy - Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005) - Oscar-nominee Deepa Mehta’s Funny Boy is based on Shyam Selvadurai’s best-selling Penguin modern classic. The film was picked up by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing and is out on Netflix. İt was Canada’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Academy Awards, and was nominated for 9 Canadian Screen Awards, taking home three (Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Score). Three-time Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore created the film score.

REVIEWS “The Romeo to Arjie’s Juliet is Shehan (Rehan Mudannayake), a charming Sinhalese boy he meets in school years later. Boasting hair more tousle-worthy than Timothée Chalamet’s curly locks, Mudannayake plays the heartthrob very well, making Shehan a loving ally to Arjie in the way Radha was before. The two breakthrough performers, Ingram and Mudannayake, are quite extraordinary in their first film leads. They have excellent chemistry as the young men discovering themselves anew. They’re both true naturals with Ingram gradually allowing Arjie to blossom and Mudannayake proving a scene-stealer with his magnetic presence. (It’s not hard to see why Arjie’s so smitten.)” - Pat Mullen, That Shelf

“It's both precious and refreshing when queer characters in coming-of-age stories fall in love without having to overcome any inner turmoil over their identities, so Arjie and Shehan's story is plenty heartwarming." - Tracy Brown, LA Times

“The film springs to life whenever it sticks close to Arjie’s story. He falls for a Sinhalese schoolmate, Shehan (Rehan Mudannayake), who shows him his collection of David Bowie posters and tells him that “people like us exist” — abroad, he adds, “where it’s not illegal.” There are also some lovely pop music interludes, as when Arjie and Shehan, alone in a large hall, dance to “Every Breath You Take.” - Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times