Rukmani Devi was known as the nightingale of Sinhala Cinema. Rukmani Devi and then-famous actor Eddie Jayamanne were in love, and their parents were not in favor of this affair. Knowing this, Edie and Rukmani decided to elope and were looking for a place to live safely temporarily until parental consent was obtained.
JR Jayawardena came forward and offered them to stay in his house temporarily until the problems they faced were solved.
This is how Sri Lankan heads of state and artists used to associate with each other.
Premadasa was a fan of Jothipala. Before Jothipala died in 1987, he performed for the last time at Premadasa’s Kataragama ‘Gam Udawa.’ Premadasa realized that he was singing with great difficulty. Jothipala was then hospitalized, but he died.
Jothipala’s funeral was scheduled for July 9. At that time, Prime Minister Premadasa was entrusted with presenting a proposal to designate 1988 as the International Year of Housing at the United Nations Human Settlements Commission in Nairobi, Kenya. It was Premadasa’s proposal.
A tribute ceremony was also organized for Premadasa. Premadasa and the delegation were invited to Nairobi two days before the conference, July 11, i.e., on July 9. But July 9 was the day Jothipala’s funeral ceremony was scheduled.
‘I can’t come without attending Jothi’s funeral. You all go. I will be at the conference by 11 on the last flight…’ Premadasa said”,
‘Don’t do that, sir. This is a day that marks a turning point in your life and politics. If you miss the flight, everything will be over…’ Premadasa’s secretaries said.
‘No problem. I have to be at Jothipala’s funeral anyway…’ Premadasa said.
Premadasa attended Jothipala’s funeral that day, taking ‘Gee Kokila’ Latha Walpola in his vehicle. The reason for this was that Jothipala had divorced his first wife and later married Latha, and the family of Jothipala’s first wife did not approve of Latha paying her last respects to Jothi.
Latha told Premadasa about this with sorrow. That was why Premadasa took Latha in his vehicle. Premadasa somehow brought Latha there to pay her last respects to Jothipala. After performing Jothipala’s last rites, Premadasa left for Nairobi.
He not only performed Jothipala’s last rites but also requested J.R.’s government to declare a national day of mourning for Jothipala on the funeral day. Not only because he was a fan of Jothi, but also for the millions of fans who loved Jothi.
When Anoja Weerasinghe won an international award for the film ‘Maldeniye Simeon,’ President Premadasa gave her the highest honor and donated government land, giving the honor given to cricketers to actors and actresses who win international awards.
Although most of the actors and actresses in Sri Lanka were divided into political parties, there were few cases where political parties divided them and discriminated against them.
Many artists like Gamini, Malani, Ravindra Randeniya, Sanath Gunathilaka, and Anoja were identified as UNP supporters. Vijaya, Geetha, Sumana, and Roy were identified as SLFP supporters. Vijaya joined the UNP in 1970. In the 1977 general election, Vijaya contested from the SLFP. Malani, Ravindra, and Sanath were always on the UNP platform.
In 2000, the UNP gave Ravindra a national list MP seat, but Malani lost that opportunity. Mahinda gave Malani a national list MP seat regardless of party differences. Malani, however, did not join the SLFP platform.
Ranil was the president when Malani requested assistance from the President’s Fund for heart surgery. He did not refuse to provide that assistance because Malani was on Mahinda’s national list. Ravindra also joined the UNP.
After being elected from the national list, when Mahinda became president, he worked with Mahinda for the advancement of cinema. It was Ravindra who forwarded Malani’s request for assistance to Ranil. At that time, Ranil did not bother to ask where Ravindra was during Mahinda’s time.
Gamini was always a good UNP member. He became the Deputy Speaker at the most difficult time for the UNP, seeking votes from the UNP. But in the 1994 general election, Gamini left the UNP and joined Chandrika’s People’s Front and became the governor of the North-East. Later, when he died, he had left Chandrika’s People’s Front politics and was personally criticizing Chandrika and Chandrika’s government. But Chandrika’s government gave him state honors at his funeral.
Sanath became a staunch UNP supporter and sought votes from the UNP for the 1993 Provincial Council elections. But in 1994, he also joined Chandrika, like Gamini. Such is the politics of actors and actresses.
The surprise is that the JVP did not understand it. When Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa mentioned Malani’s name in Parliament when he was mentioning the names of those who had received money from the President’s Fund, he said that he was not referring to Sarath Fonseka. It was clear that he wanted to make Malani’s name public.
To rectify that mistake, at least Malani’s funeral should have been declared a day of mourning, and she should have been given state honors rather than state patronage. She was the first actress to die after receiving an international award.
‘Are politicians more popular than actors and actresses…?’
Once, the ‘Hindustan Times’ newspaper asked veteran Bollywood actress Jaya Bachchan, who later became a politician and MP.
‘No…’
She said at once.
It is the same in Sri Lanka. Mrs. Bandaranaike’s Samagi Peramuna government tried to destroy Gamini Fonseka and erase his name. J.R.’s government did everything to destroy Vijaya Kumaratunga and erase his name. That made him even more popular among the people. The dead Malani was more popular than the living Malani because the JVP government did not give her the respect she deserved.
