Leena and (inset) in her young days and husband Ravindra Rupasena
Actress Leena Rupasena and her massive contribution to Sinhala cinema for five decades remain forgotten and unappreciated in Sri Lanka.
“I know there is some injustice done to me, but it is behind me now,” said the 85-year-old actress who lives in Pickering, Ontario, talking to Sunimal Balasuriya of Toronto-based Sawana web radio’s popular Sakman Maluwa programme last week.
Young Leena thought she was born to act, and the day she saw Nargis in the Hindi film Awara, she dreamed of becoming an actress. “When I was studying at Ananda Girls’ College in Colombo, I learnt dancing and singing and played the lead role in every school drama, and quite naturally, I had my sights on a showbiz career,” she said. “When I saw Awara, I was about 12 or 13 years of age. Girls like me who were coming from the traditional background were discouraged from going out without their parents’ permission, and seeing a film was considered a greater taboo. Therefore, my dream of acting in a movie had to wait.”
After Awara, she had another rare opportunity to see the Sinhala film Kale Handa in which Rukmani Devi, the screen idol at the time, played the leading role. Seeing the alluring actress on-screen rekindled Leena’s dormant dream. Out of the blues, she got her first break when her dancing teacher Shesha Palihakkara, invited her to act in a dance sequence in Ahankara Sthree.
“It was a dance sequence for a song titled Lanka Matha in the film, which premiered in 1954. I kept acting in the movie as a secret from the school and my friends, but it did not remain a secret for long. When an article about the film and my picture appeared in a paper, my teacher was angry and sent a message to my father asking him to see her immediately. She scolded him for allowing a young girl like me to act in a film”
Soon after that, the internationally-known director Lester James Peiris offered her the lead role in Rekhawa, but she refused his offer, not knowing what action the school would take against her. Peiris’ debut, which drew comparisons with Satyajit Ray’s early films, was screened at the Cannes film festival in 1957 and is still the only Sinhala film nominated for a Palme d’Or award.
“I still regret not accepting this great director’s offer,” Leena said with her voice heavy with emotions. “Mr. Peiris visited my home along with Mr. Palihakkara, but I refused the offer citing my principal’s objection.”
Another film she missed was Daiva Yogaya, a giant production with several leading stars of the time. “I was a great fan of Rukmani Devi whom we addressed as Daisy Akka. I met her for the first time after the premiere of her Kale Handa. We became friends, and she asked me whether I like to act in a film. I could not refuse this tempting offer and went for an audition. I saw Senadheera Kuruppu, who played the lead in the Daiva Yogaya, at the interview. The producers were interested in casting new actors, and therefore Senadheera and I were selected, but unfortunately, the project was delayed due to some production snags”.
An offer too tempting to refuse came from producer Jabir A. Cader when he invited her to star in Surathalie. It was Leena’s springboard to success that turned her into a superstar almost overnight. “My parents did not object because they knew that I was hurt for not being able to follow my calling in life. I played the lead role with my future husband, Ravindra Rupasena, and a couple of films later, we became a popular screen couple of that era”.
After Surathalie, she acted in Sohoyuro with Aruna Shanthi while Ravindra played the love interest of Clarice de Silva, another major actress of the era. “In the next two films, Suneetha and Sundara Birinda, Ravindra and I played the lead roles probably as our screen chemistry became a box office attraction. Mr. Jabir A. Cader produced all these films.”
Before her marriage, the upcoming star, known as Leena de Silva, acted in more than a dozen films at the height of her popularity. Some are landmarks in Sinhala cinema that include well-known commercial hits like Nalangana, Sulalitha Sobhani, Sujage Rahasa and Ran Rasa. It was also the time that the Sri Lankan film industry was beginning to move away from its South Indian influence to evolve a national cinema.
Leena’s dream of acting with her idol Rukmani was realized when she appeared with the femme fatal of the Sinhala screen in Nalagana in 1959. “Though I was disappointed with my inability to act with her in Daiva Yogaya, it was my greatest joy when we appeared in Nalangana together. The film was produced by S.M. Nayagam. My future husband played the character of the hero,” she said.
Responding to a question by Balasuriya, Leena said that at the beginning of the Sinhala film movie industry in 1947, movies were shot in India, but during her time, there was a shift as studio facilities were developed in the island. “All the films produced by Jabir A. Cader was shot in India at AVM studio in Madras, but S.M. Nayagam completed his films in Sri Lanka. By that time, he had built his own studio in Kandana”.
While shooting in India, Leena met the iconic Indian stars of the era like Vyjayanthimala and Padmini. “They were very simple people without any hang-ups despite their massive popularity. Usually, Indian shooting of a Sinhala film took about three months, but we did not have enough time to travel around or socialize with the stars, but sometimes they came to our studio to watch our shooting and have a chat.”
After their marriage in 1960, both Leena and her husband took a break from films. The reason, as explained by her, was that she only liked to act along with her husband. “By that time, I was a married woman, and as a wife, there were certain restrictions. I received many offers but did not like to do some characters as they did not suit my image as a married woman. More than acting, I wanted to be a good wife to my husband.”
After Ravindra died in 1978 and more than a decade later, she made a very successful comeback. Even after a prolonged absence from films, her fans had not forgotten Leena. Though she played elderly roles after her return, the period marks the most prolific phase of her career with a string of critically acclaimed movies. She worked with high-profile filmmakers like Lester, his wife Sumithra, H.D. Premarathne, Chandran Rutnam and Gamini Fonseka. She acted in two of Lester’s award-winning films – Kaliyugaya and Awaragara – and commented that her work with the iconic filmmaker could get rid of her regrets for not agreeing to act in his debut Rekhava.
Despite the rich crop of films after her comeback which displayed her natural talent and earned rave reviews from critics, Leena never received an award or was not even nominated for one.
“My come-back was almost accidental. I wanted to concentrate on bringing up my two kids after Ravindra’s death, but after the Sri magazine published an interview about me, I got an offer to act in Ganga Addara, directed by Sumithra Peries”, she said.
“My daughter Poorna was a friend of producer Milina Sumathipala’s daughter. When she was looking for new actresses, her daughter had shown my article to her mother. Milina visited my home and offered the character of newcomer Vasanthi Chaturani’s mother, which I gladly accepted. That time I also felt the need to find a job to make both ends meet. For me, no job was better than acting!”
“I did not send my children to the university as there were a lot of political problems in Sri Lanka at that time. My son came to Canada, and a few years later, my daughter and I followed him as I found it difficult to live away from my children”, Leena said.
In Canada, she acted in a film, Ratakin Ratakata, made by Toronto TV personality Nimal Perera. When she was offered the role, she first read the script but did not like certain parts. When she brought it to the attention of the director, he asked Leena to rewrite it to suit her ideas and allowed her to direct. Unfortunately, the film was not shown in Sri Lanka, she said.
Responding to a question whether she is sad about not being appreciated for her fifty-year service to the Sri Lankan film industry, she said what is more important is that she still has her adoring fans both in Sri Lanka and Canada. “But when I look back, yes, I feel there is some injustice done to me, but it is behind me now.”
The actress says she is completely happy with her present life as her two children, Poorna and Bimal, and her son-in-law and daughter-in-law look after her very well. “More than anything else in the world, I am proud to be a good mother and to be in the company of my four adoring grandchildren.”
According to the Sinhala film database, Leena’s association with the Sri Lankan film industry extends from film No. 24 (Ahankara Sthree – 1954) to No. 960, Poronduwa (2001). Somasiri Munasinghe – www.newstrails.com
(Toronto-based Sawana Sinhala language web radio was launched by the former SLBC producer Vasantha Lankatilake in 2017)
