There are places we never truly leave. Even after we part from their shores, even after the footages stop rolling or the stories move on, something lingers, in the dust, the hush of trees, the scent of a street at dusk. For acclaimed filmmaker Deepa Mehta, that place is Sri Lanka.
Nearly two decades later, she returns not quite as a filmmaker, but as a woman seeking to stand once more on familiar soil. To honour a creative bond that changed her life, and perhaps ours too.
In the early 2000s, when Water was forced into exile, it was Sri Lanka that opened its doors. Mehta found in Bolgoda the quiet dignity of Varanasi, in local temples the spiritual hush of sacred India. What emerged from those months of filming was not just a movie. It was a reclamation. A defiant act of storytelling that would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award.
It would not be the last time Mehta looked to this island. Over the years, Sri Lanka would become a recurring presence in her cinematic world. In Funny Boy, a tender coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war, she returned as a listener. The film, which followed a young boy navigating identity amidst cultural fracture, was steeped in nuance, care, and above all, love.
“I’ve never felt like a stranger here,” Mehta once said. “Sri Lanka gave me the gift of possibility.”
This May, Deepa Mehta’s return isn’t heralded by paparazzi or flashing lights. It is intimate. Personal. Almost sacred.
Hosted by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, the Cinnamon Signature Weekend is a celebration of Mehta’s work, yes, but also a celebration of what it means to belong, even briefly, to a place. Over the course of two days, audiences will experience her seminal films Water, Funny Boy, and Midnight’s Children as living memory. As offerings.
On the 31st of May, the screenings will begin at Cinnamon Bentota Beach, the very soil that bore witness to Mehta’s earliest Sri Lankan journey. It is here that Water found its first quiet breath, and where Funny Boy would later return to echo that same tenderness. On the 1st of June, the celebration will move to Cinnamon Life in Colombo, where Mehta will reunite with the cast and crew who walked these creative paths with her. There will be conversation, perhaps a few tears, and certainly, stories.
But this isn’t a mere reunion. It is a circle closing.
Each of Mehta’s films holds a mirror to identity, conflict, and grace. In Water, we see the resilience of women cast out by society, clinging to dignity like prayer. In Funny Boy, we see the intersections of queerness, ethnicity, and war, themes rarely touched in South Asian cinema with such raw compassion. Midnight’s Children, adapted from Salman Rushdie’s novel, is a tapestry of post-colonial dreams and disasters, where magic and history entwine.
They are different stories, but all carry the same heart. One that beats for the forgotten, the misfit, the displaced. In many ways, they are also the story of Sri Lanka. A country that, like Mehta, has had to learn how to hold beauty and pain in the same hand.
What does it mean to return, not just to a place, but to a feeling?
For Mehta, it means standing on the sands of Bentota, recalling early morning shoots and monsoon skies. It means greeting the drivers, caterers, and extras, the unsung lifeblood of cinema, with gratitude in her eyes. It means walking through hotel corridors as someone once cradled by this land during a time of creative exile.
It is also a moment for us, as Sri Lankans, to recognize the impact we had. Not in politics or headlines, but in the soft power of hospitality. Of saying yes.
Cinema is invitation. It is how the world dreams of places before ever setting foot in them.
We have seen it happen across the globe. New Zealand’s tourism surged by 300 percent after The Lord of the Rings. Croatia became a household name thanks to Game of Thrones. South Korea’s cultural exports, from Parasite to Squid Game, have reshaped everything from beauty standards to travel routes.
“I’ve never felt like a stranger here,” Mehta once said. “Sri Lanka gave me the gift of possibility.”
So, what of us?
Sri Lanka too has appeared in global cinema. From Indiana Jones to Funny Boy, our shores have whispered in the background. But unlike those other nations, we have not yet claimed our place as a true cinematic destination. Deepa Mehta’s return offers a chance to begin again. To carve out space on the global film map. To show that our island is not just a postcard, but a narrative-rich, emotionally resonant, cinematically versatile nation.
We do not want Sri Lanka to be known merely as an island draped in beaches. This country is a mosaic of landscapes, languages, memories, and untold stories. From the misty hills of the Central Province to the resilient heart of the North, every region holds cinematic potential. They want meaning. Depth. Story. And that is what film tourism offers. It empowers our own storytellers, spotlights our actors, uplifts local technicians, and builds production infrastructure that supports global-standard filmmaking, all while keeping our cultural soul intact.
In her own words, Deepa Mehta calls Sri Lanka a place “where the light never truly left.” That light, warm, golden, and persistent, flickers now in her return. In every reel projected, in every laugh shared over dinner, in every shoreline she revisits, there is a soft kind of knowing.
This weekend is about remembrance. About bearing witness to the moments between scenes. The friendships, the fears, the food, the waiting, the wonder. It is about art, yes. But more than that, it is about belonging. And so, as Deepa Mehta walks once more among us, we greet her not as one of our own.
Welcome home
Signature Weekend Programme Overview:
- 31st May 2025 | Cinnamon Bentota Beach - Signature Selection
- 10:00 AM – Book Reading & Screening: Midnight’s Children
- 3:00 PM – Panel Discussion & Screening: Water
- 1st June 2025 | Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams
- 3:00 PM – Screening & Round Table: Funny Boy, followed by cocktails and an afterparty with the cast and crew
Tickets & Packages:
- Single Screening Ticket: LKR 10,000
- Signature Stay Package (Cinnamon Bentota Beach Signature Selection): LKR 75,000
- Funny Boy Screening + Event (Cinnamon Life City of Dreams): LKR 12,500
- Availability is limited—secure your place at this extraordinary cultural gathering.
Book now at:
www.cinnamonhotels.com/signature-events
For inquiries, call 0112 161 161 or
email info@cinnamonhotels.com
