Multiple roles for Somalatha Subasinghe
Her first public appearance as an actress was in the late 1950s in
Prof Ediriweera Sarathchandra's Raththarang at the University of
Peradeniya. Bad enough she was a raw fresher...worse still or better
still...she was a fresher who was honoured with the female lead.
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Somalatha Subasinghe and Kumar de Silva |
The 24 year old Somalatha played an old woman and was greeted with a
five minute l-o-n-g unwavering hoot from the male members of the
audience. It was literally a baptism by fire which she unflinchingly
carried on...undaunted.
There was no turning back. Somalatha Subasinghe has since then played
a diverse array of characters on stage, on screen and on
television...with great aplomb and infinite ease.
Listen to her recall memorable landmarks of a 50 year old career, the
different roles she has played in real life - leading light of the
'Playhouse for Children and Youth', wife to Lionel Fernando, mother to
Kaushalya and Shyamalika, grandmother cum confidante to two grandsons
and two granddaughters.
Added to this is also her 'stint' as wife of Sri Lanka's ambassador
to Malaysia, the Netherlands and France...her phobia for snakes and her
revulsion for durian.
Somalatha Subasinghe turns 75 on July 2 this year, but still has the
fire to command audiences with her electrifying presence on stage and
screen.
Catch it all on Celeb Chat at 9.30 pm on Monday 25 April on CSN. |
