“A Scene from ‘Funny Boy”. 

Award winning movie Director Deepa Mehta sees a lot of potential for Sri Lanka both for its actors and as a film location after her movie Funny Boy was picked by Canada as its entry for the Oscars next year.   
Funny Boy is a coming-of-age novel by Sri Lankan-born Canadian author Shyam Selvadurai.
Deepa Mehta’s movie based on the book is set to be released next month (December) in selected theaters worldwide and on Netflix. 

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mirrorover the phone from Canada, Deepa Mehta praised the Sri Lankan cast and local production crew for helping her make a movie which was good enough to be picked as an entry for the biggest movie awards in the world.   
“The book Funny Boy is about oppression. About minorities in Sri Lanka and people who think differently. It is so delightful for me to be able to take the book which is based on Sri Lanka, written by a Sri Lankan and make a movie. Its so moving and such an honor. So I need to thank Sri Lanka. To share one’s history is such a rare opportunity,” she said.   

Sri Lanka is no stranger for Deepa. She has filmed two other, critically acclaimed movies in Sri Lanka, ‘Water’ and ‘Midnight’s Children’ featuring Indian stars.   
But Funny Boy features mostly Sri Lankans and unlike her other two movies, this one is on Sri Lanka. 
Funny Boy stars Brandon Ingram, Rehan Mudannayake, Arush Nand, Nimmi Harasgama, Ali Kazmi, Agam Darshi, Seema Biswas, Shivantha Wijesinha and others.   

"Two main sensitive topics which the movie touches on is how a queer couple are seen in the local community and the oppression of  theTamils in 80s. Funny Boy was chosen as Canada’s Oscar submission for best international film"

“The talent in your country is formidable. You have an amazing range from Nimmi to Brandon. There are so many fabulous, fabulous actors. I also have a very special relationship with Gopi Dharmaratnam. And my hero was production designer Errol Kelly. He was amazing. I could never have been so happy,” she said.   
Two main sensitive topics which the movie touches on is how a queer couple are seen in the local community and the oppression of the Tamils in the 1980s. Just last week, Funny Boy was chosen as Canada’s Oscar submission for best international film.   

Deepa Mehta said that the competition was very tough and for Funny Boy to be selected was huge.   
“It also says so much about Sri Lanka. It says so much about the talent your country has. So, Sri Lanka take a bow. This film is your film,” she said.   
Funny Boy will go on Netflix on December 10. 
The audio version of this brief interview is available on www.dailymirror.lk/audio