Antonythasan Jesuthasan, who plays Dheepan, was actually a soldier for the Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan civil war, who fled during a ceasefire and sought political asylum in France.
At first, Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan — winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival – appears to be a straightforward document of the immigrant experience. Take the scene where Dheepan is interrogated by a French officer in what seems to be the naturalisation department. Dheepan is from Sri Lanka. He was a Tamil tiger. He left the island nation with his “wife” (Yazhini) and “daughter” (Ilaiyaal) and came to France, seeking asylum — and that’s why he’s being interrogated by this officer. Before emigrating, Dheepan, Yazhini and Ilaiyaal had no idea of each others’ existence. They are a makeshift family, which makes Dheepan an immigrant saga in another way, too: how these three people cross the “borders” of their individual existence and move to a state of communal living.
This scene with the French officer makes you smile. He asks Dheepan to explain how and why he left Sri Lanka. Dheepan says he was a journalist, a peace activist who worked for an NGO. The government made things difficult for him, and… The translator seated next to Dheepan cuts him off. He’s heard this story a hundred times before from other Sri Lankans asking for refuge, which means it’s likely the French officer has heard this story a hundred times before, too. The translator asks Dheepan, “Did your smuggler sell you that story? What side were you on in the war?” It’s not that he isn’t sympathetic. He wants Dheepan to make a stronger case. So Dheepan says he was forced to join the Tigers, and the Sri Lankan army captured and tortured him…
Read the rest of this article here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/jacques-audiards-dheepan-about-sri-lankan-tamils-in-france-is-a-story-of-immigration-in-more-ways-than-one-8741041.html
Copyright ©2020 Firstpost.
Baradwaj Rangan 
ItsVerySimple
August 22, 2020
Not to suggest the film opportunity wasn’t a great one but he was (and is) a much-noticed writer (as Shobha Sakthi) for many years before the film happened 🙂 Some of his short story collections are terrific, would definitely recommend if anyone is looking for an authentic Tamil Srilankan voice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Eswar
August 22, 2020
Shoba Sakthi was someone I wanted to read. Didn’t realize he was an actor too.
LikeLike
krishikari
August 25, 2020
A very interesting writer, i just read a piece online about him living in a ghettoised suburb of Paris. Love the way he describes the place. Our Nelflix does not have this film 😦
I have a question about Sri Lankan Tamil is it easy to understand for a Tamil Nadu Tamil speaker? I thought I could understand Tamil well, but though I do okay with movies, I could not for the life of me understand the Sri Lankan Tamil I heard in Canada.
I attended another documentary there, early 2000s No More Tears Sister: Anatomy of Hope and Betrayal. I think it was a premiere as the family of the subject Dr. Rajani Thiranagama was there for the screening, there were police all around the theatre as they were all targets for assasination. Intense experience.
LikeLike
Eswar
August 25, 2020
I have a question about Sri Lankan Tamil is it easy to understand for a Tamil Nadu Tamil speaker?
krishikari: I am a native Tamil speaker. From my limited experience, I can understand Sri Lankan Tamil. I find them speaking a purer unadulterated form, so I find some of the words new or seldom used in spoken Tamil. But it could be just very well me as I don’t speak any particular dialect.
If you can understand Tamil, you could try listening to Shoba Sakthi in the below video from this year’s Chennai book fair. While he speaks like Parasakthi Sivaji Ganesan, he uses words like ‘mugavar’, ‘pagadi’ etc spontaneously which I don’t often hear form a native Tamil speaker.
LikeLiked by 1 person