Geetha Kumarasinghe

Geetha Kumarasinghe
Born (1955-07-05) July 5, 1955
Elpitiya, Sri Lanka
Years active 1975–present
Spouse(s) Chris Fuhrer Ferdinand
Awards

Sarasaviya Best Actress Award (1991), (1996), (2000) and (2004)
Sarasaviya Most Popular Actress Award (1990)

Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for Galle District
Assumed office
2015
Personal details
Nationality Sri Lanka Sri Lankan
Political party United People's Freedom Alliance
Religion Buddhist
Website http://www.geethakumarasinghe.com

Geetha Samanmali Kumarasinghe (born July 5, 1955, in Badulla) is an award winning Sri Lankan film actress. She made her debut with veteran director K. A. W. Perera's Wasana in 1975 but it was Neil Rupasinghe's Lassana Kella which was released first. Since then, she has made her mark in over 80 movies, winning the prestigious Sarasaviya Best Actress Award four times, in 1991, 1996, 2000 and 2004. She was also one of the few actresses to receive the Sarasaviya Most Popular Actress Award several times.

Early life

Geetha Samanmalie Kumarasinghe[1] was born as the eldest daughter of Wijaya, a journalist and Udula Kumarasinghe in 1955 at Badulla. She grew up in Bentara, Elpitiya and had her education at Sanghamitta Girls College, Aluthgama and Holy Family Convent, Kalutara.

As a child, she showed talent for singing and dancing. She was crowned a beauty Queen, competing among 100 contestants in a beauty contest organized by a local newspaper in 1973.

Career

Though Geetha’s father did not approve of a career in movies or her participation in the beauty pageant, her mother was always with her. Her aunt, Anula Wickramapala was also a friend of her. Lester James Peiris . Incidentally, it was her aunts mansion that he used as the location for his film Ransalu.[2] Little Geetha, who used to spend her school vacations in her aunt’s house in Kollupitiya would imitate Punya Heendeniya, as her childhood heroine.

She signed contracts for 21 films before her maiden film was released, a record in Sri Lankan Cinema.[3] It was in the year 1975 that Geetha debuted in K.A.W. Perera's Vasana but it was Neil Rupasinghe's Lassana Kella which reached theaters first.

Kumarasinghe, who is often famous for casting in controversial roles, has also performed in foreign films which include Pakistani, Hindi, Japanese, Tamil and French productions.

She received critical acclaim in roles such as 'Dulcie' in Pembara Madhu, 'Dotty' in Palama Yata, 'Punna' in Lokuduwa and 'Amali' in Ran Diya Dahara. Her performance in Palama Yata[4] (Under the Bridge) where she plays the role of a woman in the slums earned raving reviews both in Sri Lanka and overseas.

She produced popular films like Palama Yata, Salambak Handai, Loku Duwa, Anuragaye Ananthaya, Wasuli and Geetha.[5] Both of her productions, Palama Yata and Loku Duwa won her the Best Film Awards at the Sarasaviya Awards Festival.

Awards

Year Organization Award Film
1981 National Film Festival Best Supporting Actress  
1988 National Film Festival Best Supporting Actress  
1990 OCIC Merit Awards   Palama Yata
1990 Sarasaviya Awards Festival Best Actress Palama Yata
1990 Sarasaviya Awards Festival Most Popular Actress  
1990 Swarna Sanka Film festival Best Actress Palama Yata
1996 Sarasaviya Awards Festival Best Actress Loku Duwa
1996 Swarna Sanka Film festival Best Actress Loku Duwa
1997 National Film Festival Best Actress Loku Duwa
2000 National film festival Talented Performance Anuragaye Ananthaya
2000 Sarasaviya Awards festival Best Actress Rajya Sevaya Pinisai
2000 National Film Festival Best Actress Rajya Sevaya Pinisai
2004 Sarasaviya Awards Festival Best Actress Ran Diya Dahara
2005 Signis Salutation Most Outstanding Performance Ran Diya dahara
2005 National Film Festival Best Actress Ran Diya Dahara

Political career

Geetha was a ardent supporter of Mahinda Rajapakse at 2010 presidential elections and was appointed as the chief organizer to Elpitiya electroate. She unsuccessfully contested at the 2010 general elections and blamed election irregularities for her defeat.

She contested the provincial council elections in 2014 and took oath as a counciller at the Southern Provincial Council.

Geetha contested for the 2015 Parliamentary Election from Galle District. She was selected to the 15th Sri Lankan Parliament as a Honourable Member of the Parliament by taking 63,955 preferential votes.[6]

Controversy

In a parliament session in 2015 November Geetha Kumarasinghe complained the lack of time given to her and made a communal statement claiming that ethnic minority Tamil members from the north received more time than her unaware that the time allocated for her was decided by her own party. She also crticized the lifting of highly discriminatory taxes on imported English and Tamil dramas .Kumarasinghe's parliamentary seat could be taken away as a result of the on-going court case challenging her becoming a lawmaker while holding Swiss nationality and is having her own court battle after being accused of ignorance of the constitution.[7]

References

External links


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