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Chandrika Siriwardena

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Chandrika Siriwardena
චන්ද්‍රිකා සිරිවර්ධන
Born
Gajanayake Arachchige Somi Kalani Chandrika Siriwardena

(1948-11-11) 11 November 1948 (age 75)
Kandy, Sri Lanka
EducationPushpadana Girls' College, Kandy
Alma materBhatkhande University
Occupation(s)Playback singer, Songstress, Actress, Dancer, Educator, Television Personality
Years active1953-
SpouseAnton Alwis (m. 1974)
Children2
Parents
  • Peter Siriwardena (father)
  • Srimathi Karuna Devi (mother)
RelativesAnton Alwis (husband)
Peter Siriwardena (father)
Karuna devi (father)
Sunil Siriwardena (brother)
Madhumadhawa Aravinda (nephew)
Dhananjaya Siriwardena (nephew)
Shashini Siriwardena (in law)
Dulshara De Alwis (granddaughter)
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Years active1965–present
Labels
  • Nilwala
  • Ransilu

Kalabushana Gajanayake Arachchige Somi Kalani Chandrika Siriwardena (Sinhala: චන්ද්‍රිකා සිරිවර්ධන: born 11 November 1948), popularly as Chandrika Siriwardena, is a Sri Lankan songstress and playback singer.[1] A pioneer artist in reality musical programs in Sri Lanka, she recorded the songs Midule Mal Sooriya Gaha Mudune, Igillila Yanna Yan and Ranabima Marune in a career that spanned more than six decades.[2]

Personal life

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She was born on 11 November 1948 in Kandy as the youngest in a family with three siblings. Her father, Peter Siriwardena was an accomplished musician and an actor. He worked as a lecturer in music at the Government Women's Training College, Polgolla.[3] Her mother Srimathi Karuna Devi was a music teacher as well as an actress. She first attended to Primary section of teacher training college and then she completed secondary education at Pushpadana Girls' College, Kandy.[4] Chandrika has two elder brothers.

His brother Sunil Siriwardena is a singer, lyricist and broadcaster.[5] He has two sons - Madhumadhawa Aravinda and Dhananjaya Siriwardena. Madhumadhawa is a vocialist and was a controversial politician.[6] Dhananjaya is a popular actor in cinema, theater and television. He is married to Shashini Siriwardena, a youtuber and singer who previously worked as a cabin crew for Emirates.[7] Chandrika Siriwardena's niece Dulshara Dasanthi is an influencer and an upcoming singer and actress.

She was married to Anton Alwis, who was a journalist, scriptwriter and lyricist. He also briefly served as a presidential secretariat to the late president R.Premadasa.[8][9] The couple has one son, Prashantha Udaya and one daughter, Jithendrika. Jithendrika Jayakalani is a Bharathanatyam dancer and has appeared in certain films as cameos. Her husband Anton died on 26 March 2017 at the age of 72, this affected Chandrika deeply.[10][4]

Career

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At the age of five, Chandrika joined Lama Pitiya children's program in Radio Ceylon. She excelled as a Sinhala singer of excellent grade, and a Tamil singer of excellent grade and a classical Singer during her career at Radio Ceylon.[1] Her elder brother Sunil Siriwardena was famous on the radio as a singer. Chandrika Siriwiwardena's debut radio single was Thalamala Waruna a song by Sunil Siriwardena in which she was featured.[3] She then sang a song Raththaranin Ran for a song program at Radio Ceylon.[4] At the age of 18, she went to G. S. B. Rani's 'Tharangani' program where she sang her first popular song Ukdandu Dunnen Upannemi written by Saman Chandranath Weerasinghe and produced by Sarath Dassanayake.[2]

After completing her education, she went to India and obtained a master's degree from Bhatkhande University with a First Grade Pass.[3] She majored in North Indian classical music as well as South Indian Carnatic music during that period. After returning to Sri Lanka, she sang the song Viyo Wee Mihimadala for the teledrama Sura Asura.[4]

Chandrika has rendered her voice as well as acted in many films including, Giju Lihiniyo, Raththaran Amma, Devduwa and Anjalika.[11] She won Sarasaviya Award for the song Nim Walalla in the film Hithawathiya. She has sung several songs under semi-classical music. Her song Ranabima Marune Sinhalayeknam became an extremely popular song in Sri Lanka.[4] Chandrika won awards for the films Sinasenna Raththaran in the 80's, the film Hithawathiya and the film Chaya. In the film Chaya she contributed as a choreographer for Sabeetha Perera.[2] Chandrika mainly focused on playback singing and did not release any music albums during her career, her music is mainly consumed through Sri Lankan radio and is not fully available on modern streaming services.

In 2006, Chandrika joined Sirasa TV for the first season of music reality show Sirasa Superstar. She was a judge for the first few rounds in first season. However, in 2007 she continued to be one of the main judge in season 2. Later in 2012, she joined Derana Dreamstar as a judge.[1] She has also judged in many other reality shows and is popular for changing the role of women in reality television in Sri Lanka.

Chandrika Siriwardena also worked as a music educator and held her own institute which was defunct during the pandemic. She directed two shows called "gee ran gee" with her student body as the cast of the performance in 2012.

In 2012, Chandrika was honored at 36th SIGNIS OCIC Salutation Festival.[12] In 2019, she was awarded the Kalabushana award by the president Maithripala Sirisena for her valuable input in the Sri Lankan entertainment industry.[13][14]

To celebrate her 70th birthday, she performed a solo concert "Ran Tharakavo" on 11 November 2018 at 6.30 pm at the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall which was received with mixed reviews.[4][2]

In 2021, after a brief hiatus from film, she made her return to acting with the television series on Hiru Tv named Divithura.

Filmography

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Year Title
1971 Ran Onchilla Dancer
1975 Gijulihiniyo Cast
1975 Raththaran Amma Supporting role
1986 Devuduwa Kanya
2006 Anjalika Supporting role
2021- present Divithura Vajira Devanarayana

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Scholar Chandrika Siriwardena". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "I am the nymph". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "I was bored at school and only played sports". Divaina. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Chandrika lands at BMICH with 'Ran Tharakavo'". Divaina. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Brothers who triumphed in our field of art". lifie. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Madhumadhawa Aravinda bio". Sri Lankan Singers Association. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  7. ^ "He gives me lot that I expect - Shashini & Dhananjaya Siriwardena". lkactress. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  8. ^ "I got him because of my voice - Chandrika Siriwardena". vinsaara. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  9. ^ "අද මා තනිවෙලා ඔහු හුඟක් දුර ගිහින්".
  10. ^ "Anton Alwis passes away". Daily News. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Singers who came to sing in the background of movies". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  12. ^ "OCIC laurels for the stars". Daily News. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Kalabushana award winner". mirrorarts. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  14. ^ "President patrons State 'Kalabhushana' Awards 2018". The Morning. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
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