Sharp at 7 in the evening, Nanda Malini steps on to the stage clad in her customary simple white saree. No fancy hair-do and make-up hardly noticeable – only what the camera crew demands. She greets the audience and sits on a chair and begins to sing. She remains there for nearly two hours. The [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Lady in white as fresh as ever

Kala Korner by Dee Cee
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Sharp at 7 in the evening, Nanda Malini steps on to the stage clad in her customary simple white saree. No fancy hair-do and make-up hardly noticeable – only what the camera crew demands. She greets the audience and sits on a chair and begins to sing. She remains there for nearly two hours. The fans listen. There is pindrop silence in the hall except the applause at the end of each song.

Once again Nanda Malini proved that she is undisputedly our leading songstress. It was her final night of the solo performance she started two years ago with Sirasa FM. The ultra modern Stein Studio at Ratmalana was the venue. It was packed with fans who thronged to see her perform.

A seasoned performer, she has had solo performances for four decades. I remember enjoying ‘Sravana Aaradhana’ way back in the early 1970s, followed by ‘Satyaye Geetaya’ and ‘Pavana’. The one she concluded had a difference. Partnering Sirasa, she started ‘Sveta Raathriya’ two years ago. She went round the country. Twenty five shows were held in all.

The key feature of the programme was that the songs she sang for two hours were all written by one lyric writer – Professor Sunil Ariyaratne. As we all know, he is a social commentator. Even when the theme was love and affection, his lyrics conveyed a deep meaning.

On the final night, Suresh Maliyedda – a name increasingly being heard – directed the music. The original compositions had been by the well known directors Rohana Weerasinghe, Stanley Peiris, Sarath Dassanayake, H. M. Jayawardena and a few others. Violinist Rukshan Gunawardena was the pick of the evening.

Looking back on her musical carrier, Nanda Malini’s had been an illustrious one, to say the least. She started as a child singer in the State Radio’s ‘Lama Pandapaya’. She was then studying at Gunananada Vidyalaya, Kotahena. Following successful courses in music under renowned musicians both here and in India, she received a first class degree from Bhatkande – the highly recognised institution in Lucknow. By 1968 she was a first grade radio singer.

Fans came to know her after she sang the ever popular film song, ‘Galana gangaki jeevithe’ in ‘Ranmuthuduwa’ which made her the Best Playback Singer in 1963 with her maiden song. Three years later ‘Me Sinhala apage ratai’ in ‘Saravita’ won the Award for her. Since then, collecting that award became a regular affair. She has over a dozen Sarasavi Awards and ten Presidential Awards – the highest by a single singer. In addition, she has won the Swarna Sanka Award thrice and the Signis Award twice for the Best Teledrama Playback Singer.

In 2007 she won recognition with the Lifetime Award at both the Sumathi Awards and the Raigan Awards.
She has been the most popular female singer several times proving that fans prefer and enjoy her style of singing. She has won the SLIM-Nielsen Award for the island’s most popular female singer three times. Nanda Malini has also given music fans secured audio cassettes and CDs – easily over thirty.

She is also perhaps the only local artiste to have an orchid named after her. The Orchid Circle of Sri Lanka bestowed this honour on her naming a hybrid – ‘Nanda Malini Ascocenda’ .

She remains the Queen. And judging from her performance that night, she can go on and on.




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