Brandon Ingram as Arjie and Rehan Mudannayake as Shehan in Funny boy. Set against Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war, ‘Funny Boy’ holds messages for today Gregg Shapiro | Screen SavorGreggShapiro@aol.com Based on the acclaimed 1994 novel of the same name by gay writer Shyam Selvadurai (who co-wrote the screenplay), Funny Boy (Array) is directed by Deepa Mehta (who co-wrote the screenplay with Selvadurai).
Mehta, who is straight, is no stranger to queer material, having written and directed the award-winning 1996 lesbian feature Fire.
Set in Colombo, Sri Lanka, during the mid-1970s and early 1980s, especially turbulent years leading up to the beginning of the civil war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese that lasted for 26 years, Funny Boy is