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Gunadasa Kapuge :
Mender of shattered souls
Channa Bandara Wijekoon
Visharadha Gunadasa Kapuge's haunting voice depicted the common voice
of people in the dry zone, who underwent many hardships in day-to-day
life. His voice also echoed in the ears of the young and the old, who
had broken and weeping hearts. He lived according to whims and fancies
of his heart and left this world in an unexpected moment, seeking solace
within Gods.
People liked Rukmani Devi and Vijaya Kumaratunga, after seeing them
on silver screen. Gunadasa Kapuge earned the same respect from millions
of people in this country for many decades solely because of his voice,
melodies and lyrics he sung from his heart. His looks mattered least or
were totally immaterial. People loved Gunadasa Kapuge as his voice
echoed the raw darkness and loneliness in their lives; a frightful
loneliness, which could not be subdued by any mortal. Thus Kapuge was
their incarnation of god.
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Gunadasa Kapuge |
Rural links
Kapuge emerged from a rural village in Galle District and conquered
the city via Radio Ceylon. He had great discipline and patience to work
as a recording engineer at SLBC for many years, before venturing into
recording a song of his own. Once in an interview with media, he had
recalled how he was assigned the task of recording Victor Rathnayake's
song Malsara Ukdandu Dunnen for which a huge orchestra with musical
instruments he had never seen before in his life were used. This respect
towards seniors, humbleness and discipline elevated Kapuge to greater
heights in years to come.
Kapuge was born in August 7, 1945 in Miriswatte, Galle District. He
was the second of a family of eight children. His parents underwent many
hardships to bring up their children. After finishing his schooling
career in Karandeniya Central College and Dharmasoka College,
Ambalangoda, Kapuge entered the 'Haywood College of Music' to pursue
with musical studies. There, he got the opportunity to leave for India
to follow a Degree course. Subsequently he obtained the Diploma from
Bhathkande in 1966 and Sangeeth Vishraradh in 1969. In the late 1960s,
Kapuge joined SLBC.
Kapuge recorded his very first song Daesa Nilupul Thema in 1973, the
decade, which was the golden era of Sinhala cinema, Sinhala song and
Sinhala theatre. In this period, many budding young artists were making
their debut, opening new vistas in their selected spheres. Kapuge's
first song was an instant hit. This motivation led him to come up with a
handful of songs enriched with haunting melodies, literary value and
voice.
Tremendous career
A song written by the late Ranbanda Seneviratne made a tremendous
impact on Kapuge's singing career. The song was Dawasak Pela Nethi Haene
and Kapuge himself did the music scores. He virtually kept the audiences
spellbound by singing this song in his one-man singing concert Kampana,
which saw its launch in 1990s. TV cameras captured tear-filled eyes of
the young and the old, mesmerized by the emotion of the song.
Kapuge died on April 3, 2003 at the age of 58. Like many artistes of
yesteryear, Kapuge too was addicted to liquor. We must not hide this
fact as many artists of this country died prematurely, of this
addiction. The cigarette and Ethyl Alcohol killed them. Kapuge was no
exception. He inherited a prolonging wound, due to this addiction. This
ailing artist had to die in Colombo airport due to a fall from a shuttle
bus. It is rumored that he had not given medical attention promptly.
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