Just over a decade ago, in 2013, the streets of one of the most opulent locations of Colombo looked like a fast forward replica of two years back. Long winding queues thronged the area and a seemingly endless procession of humanity blocked the roads. These were not however hapless people who were desperate for petrol and gas as was seen in mid-2022 when Sri Lanka faced a debilitating economic crisis.

In January 2013, elite Kollupitiya, the hub of business, tourism and the overall vicinity housing foreign embassies in the capital city was besieged as families queued up to watch the Sri Lankan, Sinhalese language film, Sri Siddhartha Gautama, depicting the life of the Buddha; the prince who left his palace to achieve enlightenment. Yet, little did they know that Suleman Daud who played the childhood role of the Buddha was a five year oldPakistani national.

“I am not sure whether even the Iranian Ambassador who queued up and viewed it as an ordinary citizen realized it,’ quips renowned architect and heritage promoter Navin Gooneratne, the producer of the film and the founder of the spirituality and cultural centre, the Light of Asia Foundation in Battaramulla, in the outskirts of Colombo. The Light of Asia centre was designed by Gooneratne akin to ancient palace architecture and was the main filming location of the movie.

Gooneratne went onto recall how the then Iranian Ambassador stationed in Colombo in 2013 had seen the film incognito and given a statement to the Sri Lankan media that it was a movie that every human being should watch. Unsure if the media had got the wording correct on the sentiments expressed, Navin Gooneratne had called up the Iranian embassy who put him onto the Ambassador who had agreed that he indeed had said what was quoted.

The 10th anniversary screening of the film commenced last year.

In the decade that passed the film had been screened in diplomatic circles both in Sri Lanka and abroad with plans initiated in 2023 for international screening in 2024, to directly use the film as a peace-building mechanism in our increasingly disturbed world.

The film received five of the eight awards at the 2014 UN Vesak Buddhist Film festival in Hanoi, Vietnam including the Best Featured film, Best Actor award and Best Director award.

The film Sri Siddhartha Gautama depicted the life of the Buddha co-directed by Saman Weeraman and Chandran Rutnam, conceptualised by Navin Gooneratne for the explicit purpose of portraying the message of peace that is central to Buddhism through the cinematic sojourn on the life of the Buddha.

The script was a combined effort of Dr. Edwin Ariyadasa, Saman Weeraman, Navin Gooneratne and George Paldona.

Indian national, Gagan Malik was cast as the adult Buddha and Pakistani national Suleman Daud as the young Siddhartha, alongside many other actors and actresses from Sri Lanka and India. The Sri Lankan cast included those who were of Christian cultural backgrounds and Buddhist. Sri Lanka has a majority population of around 70% who are Buddhist and other Sri Lankans are Muslim (around 10%), Christian (around 8%) and Hindu (around 12%).

The film was screened to full house for weeks on end until it had to be pulled out owing to other films being in queue.

As the crowds sat into watch the cinematographic spiritual lyric they would have been touched by the serenity of the child playing the role of Prince Siddhartha as a youngster.

Suleman is the son of Daud Ehtisham who was then the head of Communication and Cultural Affairs of the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo. Ehtisham played a key role a decade ago in promoting Buddhist heritage as a route to cultural tourism between the two countries, organising visits of special delegations of Sri Lankan Buddhist monks and scholars arranged by Pakistan to visit these regions, initiating the revival of the legendary Gandhara trail and strengthening Buddhism focused diplomacy between the two countries.

The 3500 years old historic Buddhist sites in the Gandhara region of present-day Taxila, Swat, and Mardan districts of Pakistan, present some of the most well-preserved Buddhist monasteries and artifacts in the world.

In this backdrop of immense scope for strengthening the spiritual heritage between the two countries, the fact that a Pakistani Muslim child spent weeks reading children’s books on the life of the Buddha and learning to sit in meditative posture is an endearing point for Buddhists in Sri Lanka breaking many a stereotyping our current world is replete with.

One of the key scenes in the film is the depiction of how the young Siddhartha Gautama chooses contemplation in his palace forest grove when he felt the yearnings towards peace even as a child.

Suleman equalled the serenity seen in the demeanor of Gagan Malik, the Indian actor who played the role of the Buddha. Both were selected after auditioning many others. Thousands of children had auditioned for the role of the childhood Siddhartha. Navin Gooneratne was unsure whether he would find the child with the typology of the serenity that he looked for when a casual conversation with the Daud family about his dilemma led Rafia Daud, mother of Suleman to decide to discuss with Suleman if he would like to audition for the role.

“I instinctively felt that Suleman’s innate calmness would make him a natural fit for the role. Overall, the opportunity to audition felt like a unique opportunity to immerse our son in a rich cultural experience,” recalls Rafia Daud.

‘When he was selected we were all very excited,’ she adds.

“Suleman was mesmerized by the prospect of being on set as a young prince, surrounded by costumes, lights and giant elephants. However, the unfamiliarity with rest of the cast and crew, initially made him shy, which of course he soon overcame, thanks to the kindness of the entire casting team,’ she explains.

Suleman bonded with the other children on set, playing and learning together. His then two-year-old sister Dania Eshal Daud also ended up being on the sidelines of the set as a young princess, dressed in finery and being part of the cast of children in the scenes that showed the young Siddhartha’s childhood saga.

The cultural exchange was enriching, and Suleman had returned home with a newfound appreciation for diversity and the power of storytelling which he today, 13 years later and as a 17 year old defines as the most  epic moment of his childhood.

“I had to learn Sinhala in order to say my lines effectively which was mainly related to sorrow expressed over a dying bird. I had to say “Kurullamaerila, eke mataattatamadukak” directly translated as ‘the bird is dead and it is a sorrow for me.’ Sinhala is the language spoken by the majority Sinhalese in Sri Lanka which is the official language of the country alongside Tamil, with English officially recognized as the link language.

Suleman also recalls the rich head gear he had to wear as headpieces like those the child prince Siddhartha would have worn. He loved the flowing robes. It felt like transforming into someone special.

“I remember running around the set, using wooden swords, playing with the lady who acted as my mother in the movie. I felt like I was living in a fairy tale,” reminisces Suleman.

The film also helped him bond with Sri Lanka’s majestic elephants who are integral in select Buddhist ceremonies and were associated with the ancient South Asian cultural heritage as a whole.

To the child that Suleman was, the elephants were like living mountains. Draped in silk and bells, their trunks swaying like gentle giants, they were like figures from an exotic fairytale.

“I was guided by the mahout to the biggest one. Her eyeswere like pools of ancient wisdom and her skin felt like moss-covered stones. Then there was this deep rumble, arich purr that just washed away all my fear. We were speaking a silent language, one of kindness and wonder,’ he recalls.

In the current reality Suleman is a teenaged student pre-occupied with Math, Physics and Computer Science but he says he will be glad to positively consider a request from Sri Lanka to share his recollections in a special documentary being created to use this film for promoting world peace.

About the writer; Frances Bulathsinghala is a veteran writer, researcherand a student of comparative spirituality who designs projects for world peace. She especially focuses on using the route of Intangible Cultural Heritage and indigenous knowledgefor healing our planet earth and the entirety of its inhabitants.

By Frances Bulathsinghala