Malini Fonseka: A tribute

The curtain fell on the life of Malini Fonseka, the queen of the Sinhala cinema, who passed away a week ago, bringing to an end the life of one of the most memorable personalities in Sri Lankan cinema. Her captivating smile, her velvety voice and gentle demeanour made her an instant attraction when she first hit the Sinhala silver screen in her debut film ‘Punchi Baba’ in 1968, for which she won the award for the most popular supporting actress presented by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Service.     

This was the beginning of a cinema career that lasted nearly 60 years during which she remained the undisputed queen of the Sinhala cinema, adapting herself to changing times, and taking on a variety of roles that made it impossible to write her off from the Lankan world of celluloid though many newcomers were gaining ground.

She was born Wanniarachchilage Malani Senehelatha Fonseka on 30 April 1947 to Gilbert and Sweelawathie Fonseka at Peliyagoda, the third in the family of 11 and the couple’s first daughter. According to her official website, her parents took her horoscope to an astrologer who predicted that she would one day reign as a queen in the country, a prediction that no doubt pleased her parents.

She had her early education at St. John’s College Nugegoda where she studied till the fifth grade and when her parents moved house to Kelaniya Wedamulla, she was enrolled at Gurukula Maha Vidyalaya where she completed her education.

While in school, she developed a passion for acting taking part in stage plays making her debut in a play titled ‘Noratha Ratha’ while at school which was followed by an award-winning performance in ‘Akal Wessa’ in 1965. The play was directed by Dharmadasa Jayaweera and she took home the award for best actress at the State Drama Festival that year. This impressed filmmaker Tissa Liyanasuriya who had seen her in ‘Akal Wessa’ and offered her the role in her first film ‘Punchi Baba’ and the rest as they say is history.

By 1972, she had acted in Lester James Peries’ ‘Nidanaya’ opposite the male superstar at the time Gamini Fonseka putting her in the big league in Sinhala cinema. The 1970s saw her flourish as an actress with nearly 60 films released in the decade including huge commercially successful films such as ‘Thushara’, ‘Susee’, ‘Awa Soya Adare’ as well as landmark films such as ‘Eya dan loku lamayek’ and ‘Siripala saha Ranmanika’. In 1978. She played the role of the lead actress in Pilot Premnath, a Tamil-language film starring popular actor Sivaji Ganesan.

The 1980s also saw her take on more challenging roles in films like ‘Beddegama’, ‘Aradhana’, ‘Muwan Pelessa’ and many others while she also ventured into teledrama as the television medium began to get popular in the country.

While Malini was successful in her profession, she had a checkered personal life and struggled with health issues in the last decade of her life. But through it all she never lost her smile and kept up the public persona that millions of Sri Lankans had come to love.

Malini Fonseka had a brief stint in Parliament as a National List MP from 2010 to 2015 having been appointed from the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This was but a small reward for the many years she had given to cinema in the country.

Last Monday, family members, colleagues and fans gathered at the Independence Square in Colombo to bid her a final goodbye. She was accorded a funeral with State honours, befitting a woman who shaped Sinhala cinema for decades while blazing the trail for many other women to enter the world of cinema. True to the prediction of the astrologer who read her birth chart when she was just an infant, she reigned as the queen of the Sinhala cinema and etched for herself a special place in the hearts of millions of her fans.