Antonythasan Jesuthasan

Antonythasan Jesuthasan (; born 1967), also known by the pseudonym Shobasakthi , is a Sri Lankan Tamil author and actor.

Early life and family Jesuthasan was born in 1967. He is originally from the village of Allaipiddy on the island of Velanaitivu in northern Sri Lanka. Appalled by the Black July anti-Tamil riots, Jesuthasan joined the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a "helper" when he was around 15 or 16. He became a full-time member of the LTTE in 1984, receiving training locally and taking on the noms de guerre "Thasan" and "Buckle". He stayed at the Chungking Mansions for six months before moving to Thailand with the help of the UNHCR, living as a refugee in a suburb of Bangkok. According to Jesuthasan amongst them were 23 of his relatives who were killed by the army and their bodies thrown into a well. He severed all connections with the LTTE and started campaigning, along with his leftist friends, against the Sri Lankan Civil War and the numerous atrocities and human rights abuses committed by the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. Gorilla was translated into English in 2008. The film was initially banned in India after the Chennai Regional Censor Board refused to rate the film. After a legal battle the film was given an "Adult" rating by the censor.

Jesuthasan starred in Dheepan, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, in 2015. The film tells the story of Dheepan (Jesuthasan), a former LTTE member, who claims political asylum in France by finding a woman and girl to pose as his wife and daughter. According to Jesuthasan the film was 50% autobiographical.

Despite the civil war having ended in May 2009 with the military defeat of the LTTE, Jesuthasan does not feel it's safe for him to return to Sri Lanka because of the continuing "armed attacks against minorities" and unknown fate of LTTE members taken prisoner by the Sri Lankan military.

When Jesuthasan traveled to Canada for the Toronto International Film Festival's screening of Dheepan, he was questioned about his past with the Tamil Tigers. He was allowed to attend the festival, but he said the authorities kept his travel document at the airport, handing it back only when he left.

Works Year Title Publisher 2001 Gorilla Adaiyalam 2003 Thesathuroki Adaiyalam 2004 Mm Karuppu Piradhigal 2007 Veelaikarikalin Puthagam Karuppu Piradhigal 2009 M.G.R. Kolai Valakku Karuppu Piradhigal 2010 Por Innum Oyavillai Karuppu Piradhigal 2010 Nan Eppothu Adimayaiyirunthen Karuppu Piradhigal 2011 Panchathukku Puli Karuppu Piradhigal 2014 Muppathu Nira Sol Karuppu Piradhigal 2014 Evaraluum Katpanai Seiya Mudiyatha Nan Karuppu Piradhigal 2014 Kandy Veeran Karuppu Piradhigal 2015 Box Karuppu Piradhigal 2017 Shoba - Itinéraire d'un réfugié (co-author: Clémentine V, Baron) Le Livre de Poche 2019 Ichaa Karuppu Piradhigal 2021 Moumin Karuppu Piradhigal 2022 Salam Alaik Karuppu Piradhigal 2022 Karung Kuil Karuppu Piradhigal 2024 Yuththa Thooshanam Karuppu Piradhigal

Translated works

Year Title Publisher 2008 Gorilla (English translation by Anushiya Ramaswamy) Random House 2010 Traitor (English translation by Anushiya Ramaswamy) Penguin 2014 The MGR Murder Trial (English translation by Anushiya Ramaswamy Penguin 2018 Friday et Friday (French translation by Faustine Imbert-Vier, Élisabeth Sethupathy and Farhaan Wahab) Zulma 2021 La sterne rouge (French translation by Léticia Ibanez) Zulma

Filmography Feature films

Other works