Iranganie Serasinghe
| Iranganie Roxanna Serasinghe | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 21, 1927 Mudungomuwa, Ruwanwella, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Other names | Iranganie Roxanna Meedeniya |
| Education |
|
| Occupation |
Teaching(Musaeus college) Journalist(Times, SLBC)[1] Film ,Television and Stage actress |
| Religion | Buddhism [1] |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | Ravi Serasinghe and Ranjit Serasinghe |
Kala Keerthi[2] Iranganie Roxanna Serasinghe (née Meedeniya) (born 1927) is a Sri Lankan actress. Since her debut in Rekava, Serasinghe has become recognized for playing motherly figures in various films and television serials.[3] She is the aunt of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.
Biography
Early life and education
Iranganie Meedeniya grew up in Moodugomuwa, near Ruwanwella in a tranquil village setting. Her early touches with nature would later lead her to become an environmental activist. While attending Bishop's College she played in several end-of-term plays; at Girls' High School, Kandy whilst pursuing a HSC; Meedeniya took a leading role in Bernard Show's Pygmalion.
Against her father a Rate Mahatthaya's wishes, Meedeniya entered the University of Ceylon in 1947 with the support of her cousins. He died in her first year away at a time when Marxist ideas were the norm. She immersed herself in the Ceylon theater scene while there under the guidance of Professor E. F. C. Ludowyk; she also became a proficient dancer with lessons from Chitrasena.
She eventually graduated with an Arts degree and travelled to London with letters of recommendation from Ludowyk following a marriage to Professor Dissanayake (they divorced some time later). There with the help of actresses Flora Robson and Sybil Thorndyke, Meedeniya attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for a year and the London School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art for two years.[4]
Theater and film
Returning to Sri Lanka, Meedeniya met up with Ludowyk and Austrian Jew director Neuman Jubal and got back into theater.The Lionel Wendt Art Centre theater portion of the center opened on 12 December 1953 with the production of Maxim Gorky's "The Lower Depths", starring Iranganie Serasinghe and produced by Neuman Jubal. Doing mainly English roles at first, she started playing in Sinhala theater in Henry Jayasena's Apata Puthe Magak Nethe and followed with roles in Damma Jagoda's Sinhala version of A Streetcar Named Desire, Ves Muhunu, and Porisadaya. The following years saw Meedeniya in constantly changing settings–teaching briefly at Musaeus College, working for The Times of Ceylon after returning from London, doing a stint at the SLBC and handling a post in the tourist trade working as a junior executive and guide of Walkers Tours and Travels (Pvt)Ltd.
Meedeniya started her carrier in cinema in Lester James Peries "Be Safe or Be Sorry" for the Government Film Unit . Peries subsequently cast her in his debut feature film Rekava as a mother . It has since achieved an iconic status in Sri Lanka.
In 1960 Meedeniya married Winston Serasinghe who had appeared in Rekava and some other productions with her. With the new surname, Iranganie Serasinghe achieved fame as an actress appearing in many of Peries' early works.[5]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Rekava (රේඛාව) | Karthina |
| 1960 | Sandesaya (සංදේශය) | Female Spy |
| 1966 | Delovak Athara (දෙලොවක් අතර) | Nissanka's mother |
| 1967 | The Yellow Dress,"Ran salu" (original title) (රන් සළු) | |
| 1969 | Bakmaha Deege (බක්මහ දීගේ) | Kumarihami |
| 1970 | Thewatha(තේවත්ත) | |
| 1970 | Priyanga (ප්රියන්ගා) | |
| 1974 | The God King (ද ගෝඩ් කිං) | Varuni |
| 1981 | Sagarayak Meda (සාගරයක් මැද) | |
| 1982 | Deveni Gamana (දෙවැනි ගමන) | Saman's mother |
| 1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,Hollywood (ඉන්දියානා ජෝන්ස්) | Village Woman |
| 1984 | Dadayama (දඩයම) | |
| 1984 | Avurududa (අවිරැදූ දා) | Malani's Mother |
| 1990 | Awaragira (අවරගිර) | Dingiri Menike |
| 1993 | Poronduwa (පොරොන්දුව) | Mrs. Rambukwella |
| 1996 | Loku Duwa (ලොකු දුව) | Punna's Mother |
| 1998 | Iqbal (Italy) (ඉක්බාල්) | Nonna |
| 2002 | Sudu Sevanali (සුදු සෙවනැලි) | |
| 2002 | Mansion by the Lake, "Wekande Walauwa" (original title) (වෑකන්ද වලව්ව) | Aunt Catherine |
| 2003 | Sakman Maluwa (සක්මන් මළුව) | |
| 2005 | Pawana Ralu Viya (පවන රළු විය) | Mrs. Weerasinghe |
| 2005 | Water,Bollywood(වෝටර්) | Mother in Law |
| 2007 | Nisala Gira (නිසලගිර) | |
| 2008 | Heart FM (හාර්ට් එෆ් එම්)
Kinihiriya mal |
Television
| Year | Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | Yashorawaya(යශෝරාවය) | Suduhamine |
| 1990–1995 | Doo Daruwo(දූ දරුවෝ) | Dulsey/Sudu aachchi |
| 1992 | Village by the Sea-Gamperaliya() | |
| 1996–1997 | Nadayo | |
| 1997 | Ammai Thaththai(අම්මයි තාත්තයි) | |
| 1999–2001 | Sathpuravesiyo(සත්පුරවැසියෝ) | |
| 2008–2009 | Muthu Kirilli(මුතු) කිරිල්ලී | |
| 2010–2011 | Amanda (අමන්දා) | granny |
References
- 1 2 3 http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/articles/176554
- ↑ Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)
- ↑ "A Shining Star striving to protect Planet Earth". Daily News(Sri Lanka). 23 May 2007.
- ↑ "Iranganie Serasinghe: Mischievous young girl who turned a brilliant actress". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 29 April 2006.
- ↑ "Fascinating facet of genuine original art". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). 16 December 2007.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0784854/?ref_=tt_cl_t8
External links
- Iranganie Serasinghe's SLMDb
- Iranganie Serasinghe's Biography in Sinhala Cinema Database
- Iranganie Serasinghe at the Internet Movie Database
- Iranganie Serasinghe – personal website
- National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka – official website
- Irangani Serasinghe's childhood photographs