Iranganie Serasinghe

Iranganie Roxanna Serasinghe
Born (1927-06-21) June 21, 1927
Mudungomuwa,Ruwanwella, Sri Lanka
Nationality Sri Lankan
Other names Iranganie Roxanna Meedeniya
Education St. Bridget's, Bishops', Kandy High School
University of Ceylon in Art[1]
Occupation Teaching(Musaeus college)
Journalist(Times, SLBC)[1] Film ,Television and Stage actress
Religion Buddhism [1]
Spouse(s)
  • Prof. S.B. Dissanayake
  • Winston Serasinghe
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 in 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

[6]

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. 1 2 3 http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/articles/176554
  2. ↑ Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)
  3. ↑ "A Shining Star striving to protect Planet Earth". Daily News(Sri Lanka). 23 May 2007.
  4. ↑ "Iranganie Serasinghe: Mischievous young girl who turned a brilliant actress". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 29 April 2006.
  5. ↑ "Fascinating facet of genuine original art". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). 16 December 2007.
  6. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0784854/?ref_=tt_cl_t8

External links

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