Jounior Observer | Sunday Observer.lk

The star that continues to shine

The Sinhala film industry has brought out the talents of many young children, through many different roles. Many children entered the film industry, but only a few managed any continuity.

Although many gave memorable performances, only a few managed to retain their popularity. Some started blooming, but withered in no time. Only a few continued to hold their place in the industry, and Nithyawani Kandasamy (Saroja) who has gone a long way, is one such young star.

Nithyawani started acting at the age of eight and her first movie was Somarathne Dissanayake’s Saroja . She was then just a little girl attending Ramanadan Hindu Ladies College, Colombo and had acted and danced only on the school stage. But Saroja changed everything, Nithyawani became Saroja.

She did 100 per cent justice to the role; later, she received many awards at both local and foreign festivals for her outstanding performance, which endeared her to thousands of movie-goers.

She continued acting and her next film was Punchi Suranganavi . Through, and as a result of acting, she has made many friends all over the country, and most of them are Sinhalese. Like Muttiah Muralidaran, she is a strong part of the peace bridge between the Sinhalese and Tamils. She has made an immense contribution in this area despite being a child.

Acting has not consumed her entire life however; she is also a clever student. Her favourite subject is mathematics and she follows her studies intently with the hope of becoming a doctor. She enjoys reading and watching films in her spare time. She is good at sports too and takes part in athletics.

When Nithyawani was selected for her first film, her school principal wasn’t very happy. Her parents didn’t like it either as nobody in their families had engaged in the field of arts. Even the teachers didn’t like the thought of loosing a good student. But now, things have changed because everybody has realised that she can balance her studies with her work in the arts field.

Nithyawani has won many awards for acting. She has also got the opportunity of visiting other countries like Pakistan,Norway, America and Iran to take part in film festivals and such events. She has performed well in both her films and has been awarded for both.

This came as a surprise to her as she never expected to continue acting in films after completing Saroja. But this changed after she acted in the film Punchi Suranganavi and the teledrama Sudu Kapuru Pethi . Her residence is in Soyzapura, Moratuwa where she lives with her parents and her little brother. She has lots of Sinhala friends with whom she has shared many happy moments.

Now that she is a grade 11 student, she has temporarily stopped acting to concentrate on her studies. However, she continues to present TV programmes in her free time.

Most Sri Lankans know her and they know of her talents. Most know her by the name Saroja and not as Nithyawani. Even when they come to know her real name, they would continue to call her Saroja, the character the country fell in love with.

Most Sri Lankans do not care about a person’s race, religion or caste and remember only what she/he has done. This holds true for Saroja too!

- Asha Senevirathne