Thumindu Dodanthenna and Kalani with their awards
Kalani Dodanthenne and her husband Thumindu emerged as the best actress and actor at the recently-concluded Signis TV awards festival.
What is more special in this family achievement was they grabbed the awards for their debut Sinhala television serials.
Kalani who started her showbiz career by acting in TV ads made her debut in the highly popular teledrama called Sahodaraya (Brother) playing the lead role along with her husband. The serial based on tumultuous political happenings in modern Sri Lanka is based on the disappearance of a journalist.
Thumindu works as a lecturer at Kelaniya University where he graduated in Fine Arts. He is also a prolific stage actor and playwright. He became an overnight sensation in highly popular TV serial Koombiyo (Ants) which had a controversial theme of educated unemployed young men trying to eke out a living by illegal means.
Speaking to Aruna website based in Colombo, Kalani, who was born as a Catholic to Tamil parents and known as Menaka Wilson before her marriage and acting career, says she had no intention of becoming an actress. “My passion is painting and believe in the healing power of arts. Now I work as an art therapist at Nawinna Medicare Hospital dealing with intellectually-challenged children and as a professional counsellor at the University of Moratuwa.” She studied art and psychology for her degree.
Kalani who works as an arts therapist was born to a Tamil Catholic family in Kotahena as Menaka Wilson
Kalani, who gave birth to her first child recently, played the lead role of a Tamil woman in Sahodaraya along with her husband. Before landing the lead character of the popular television serial she had acted around two-dozen TV ads. She had her education at the Good Shepherd Convent at Kotahena in Colombo.
She has also acted in two films, Thaala, a recent box office hit, and yet-to-be-released CineMa.
Her husband Thumindu began his film career in 2007 and has acted in 11 films so far. In 2017 he won the award for the Most Popular Actor in 2017 at Raigam Tele Awards Festival for his iconic character of Jehan Fernando in Koombiyo.
Explaining how she fell in love at first sight, Kalani says she saw Thumindu acting in the Sinhala version of Antigone Greek play. “His acting was excellent and after the drama, I went backstage with some of my friends to congratulate him. That was the first time we saw each other and I never thought on that day that our friendship which blossomed slowly would end up in marriage.” – newstrails.com
