 Jatila Karawita
A young woman of many talents and a personification of beauty and
brains is Sachini Ayendra.
 Sachini as she is more affectionately called, has already travesered
the gamut ranging from a model to a Miss Sri Lanka winner, a contestant
at the Miss World in the past, is one of the most sought after actresses
in the field.
Sachini Ayendra is more renowned as an actress among the movie-going
public, but also among the others who gather around their television
sets day in and day out, to view their favourite tele-dramas prime-time.
She is from the hill-capital, schooled at Hillwood College, Kandy
started life as a model, and has today, emerged as a gifted actress,
with three films already screened and two in the pipeline.
The charming beauty who turned out to be a highly-talented actress
spoke to `Panorama’ on her involvement in the field, to what she
perceives to be the current status of the two industries (cinema and
tele drama), to her future plans and on her recent marriage to engineer
cum businessman Ishanga Maheepala.
The first thing though, you instantly notice is her gentle warmth
blended with natural charm, which no doubt engulfs all and everything
around her, as laughter simply pours out, an obvious indication that she
is one very contented young lady.
Commenting on her work in the arena of cinema, Sachini was grateful
to two directors namely Senesh Bandara Dissanayake and Prasanna Jayakody,
for selecting her for their two movies `Adaraneeya Wassanaya’ and `Sankara’,
respectively which she says firmly established her in the hearts and
minds of the local film fans, and her legion of supporters.
Before winning the Miss Sri Lanka titles in 2003, Sachini had her
foray into the celluloid world in `Adaraneeya Wassanaya’, which in her
words had opened up new vistas for her as an actress in the arena.
“In 2003 I won the Miss Sri Lanka title, and then I did this film”,
she said recalling her entry into the world of cinema. “After which I
did two or three tele dramas, had a break for about two or three years,
for the simple reason, that I did not want to take all offers that came
my way”.
After that hiatus, she had starred in Prasanna Jayakody’s critically
acclaimed film `Sankara’, which most critics reckon put Sachini Ayendra
on the map as an actress.
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Sachini spoke glowingly of the film’s director Prasanna Jayakody, for
selecting her for that particular role in the well-received movie, over
many other actresses.
“The other fact is that before `Sankara’ I had acted only on one
film, but, Prasanna had the courage to bank on me, having auditioned
over 150 girls at the time, and after my audition, I was chosen and I
guess the rest is history”.
Sachini had then starred in the second creation of Senesh Dissanayake,
following `Adaraneeya Wassanaya’, a movie titled `Heart FM’ which was
also commercially successful.
Asked for her choice on the two segments of the local cinema,
categorised as art and commercial, charming Ayendra had no hesitation in
opting for the former saying that it is through such creations that
movie lovers could be educated, while at the same time provide
entertainment.
Commenting on her favourite two fields - tele drama and film, the
young actress without batting an eyelid, selected the medium of cinema,
as her favoured arena saying that the two media in her estimation were
poles apart.
She is of the view that in order to remain in the public eye instead
of totally vanishing from the scene, she had acted in tele dramas which
now totals to around 15, but lack of professionalism and the sheer craze
to put out creations has really added to the woes of the industry,
opined, Sachini.
The pretty and down-to-earth actress, does not deny or discount the
fact that she has a big fan-following for her work on the mini-screen,
but at the same time she is eager to point out that the standards of the
two media are very different.
Sachini also spoke of her intention to be involved in a future
creation of director Prasanna Vithanage, not to mention the productions
of Prasanna Jayakody, Senesh Bandara Dissanayake and also had a word of
praise for Udayakantha Warnasuriya, who she says had done much to keep
commercial films in the public eye, and added that she admires the
different identities and styles displayed by each of the directors.
 She also picked four actresses - three from Hollywood (Marilyn
Monroe, Julia Roberts and Hilary Swank) and Sabeetha Perera from Sri
Lanka, as having inspired her and as her role models after whom that she
has also taken a cue from, fashion her own career as an actress with
poise, grace, elegance and talent, all combining in equal measure to
make her one of the top-notch thespians, among the new breed in the
industry.
Sachini Ayendra did not forget to speak of her newly wedded life with
husband Ishanga Maheepala, who she described as a person who loves to
throw surprises to his better-half more often than not.
“Last-year, he was into garment exports and he has his factory in
Homagama, and they had this Avurudu Uthsawaya, so they called me to
judge the Avurudu Kumari contest.
I went there and there he was. It was a special kind of feeling, when
I first saw him”, she recalled her maiden meeting with her future
husband.
She insisted that her husband has not got married to Sachini Ayendra
the actress, but the woman who would be willing to look into his needs
and at the same time become his caring devoted wife, and maintained that
they were meant for each other, in life’s long journey as husband and
wife.
She also revealed to `Panorama’ that she will be involved in selected
work, having already got involved in her husband’s garment industry.
One of the most widely-travelled actresses in this country, she
described watching English movies, listening to English and Sinhala
songs, playing piano as her favourite hobbies, and advising aspiring
actresses to enter the field if they think they could become
professional, in the true sense of the world. |
