22/08/2026
How Nanda Malini Preserved Her Identity
Unlike in simple songs, maintaining one's identity in film playback singing is an exceptionally difficult task. However, Nanda Malini—who passed away leaving only her voice behind in this world—entered history as one of the few singers who preserved her unique vocal identity in cinema playback music. At a time when praise and criticism surrounding the political themes in her music are intertwined, the purpose of this note is to look back at her effort to swim against the current by focusing solely on her songs from her first decade in film music.
In film playback singing across the Indian region, the singer acts as a voice actor. The playback singer must perform a role akin to dubbing dialogue that perfectly aligns with the actor or actress's performance and scene on screen. At the dawn of film history, actors and actresses themselves were used for playback singing. However, because playback singing evolved into a distinct artistic craft, dedicated playback singers replaced singing actors. Indian cinema, originating through Parsi theatre, dedicated significant space to film songs for emotional expression. Playback songs conveyed feelings of both union and separation. Thus, the singer possessed the voice that expressed the actor's or actress's emotions.
Nanda Malini contributed to Sri Lankan film playback singing in 1959 for the film Purusha Rathnaya as a backing vocalist. The lead singers of that song were G.S.B. Rani Perera and Indrani Wijayabandara, who were already established names in the island's cinema music. Next, she participated as a child singer. Sudharma Silva and Vijitha Kusum Liyanage were popular child artists alongside her at the time.
Nanda stamped her mark and established herself in cinema with the film Ranmuthu Duwa. That year, she won the Sarasaviya Award, outshining other vocalists. The music awards presented at that year's Sarasaviya Awards marked a special moment in local film history. Although awards for Songwriting, Male Vocalist, and Female Vocalist were all presented for Ranmuthu Duwa, the Best Music award was given to Gamperaliya, a film without a single song. It is an open secret that even today, some judging panels evaluate movie playback music based on song melodies rather than cinematic background scores. Therefore, Nanda Malini winning an award amidst such high standards in that era added immense prestige to the accolade.
Although R. Muttusamy provided music for her earliest film songs, W.D. Amaradeva's musical compositions were instrumental in shaping her identity, starting with Ranmuthu Duwa. Even so, Nanda Malini did not get the opportunity to contribute to every film Amaradeva composed music for.
Although Nanda Malini established her position with her very first playback song at the beginning of the 1960s, the playback singing scene during that decade was dominated by the trio of Latha Walpola, Sujatha Attanayake, and Angelin Gunathilake. This exceptional trio excelled and successfully defended their crown in film playback singing, leaving no room for anyone else to get close. By this time, Indian singers were no longer contributing to local playback tracks, nor were Sinhala film songs recorded in Indian studios. However, Sinhala songs composed based on Indian tunes did not lose popularity. Even as films with original music were made, there was no shortage of songs built on Indian melodies. It was against this backdrop that Nanda Malini staged her first life revolution: preserving her unique identity. For a professional singer, this was by no means easy, but Nanda Malini achieved it.
During her first decade—from the release of Ranmuthu Duwa in 1962 to 1971—she sang for only about fifteen films, including Ranmuthu Duwa, Patachara, Saravita, Vessathuru Siritha, Manamalayo, Sadol Kandulu, Raana Giraw, Dahasak Sithuvili, Adarawanthayo, Narilatha, Hathara Peraliya, Mee Masso, Binaramalee, Hanthane Kathawa, Bakmaha Deegaya, Penawa Neda?, Seeye Note-uwa, and Samanala Kumarayo. Numerically, she sang twenty-three songs in total during this period. Four of those films earned her the Sarasaviya Award for Best Female Vocalist.
She lent her voice to almost every popular actress of the era. Starting with Jeevarani in that decade, she voiced leading actresses such as Sandhya Kumari, Sobani Amarasinghe, Vijitha Mallika, Malini Fonseka, Anula Karunathilaka, Swarna Mallawarachchi, Swarna Kahawita, Iranganie Serasinghe, and Sriyani Amarasena.
The shift away from Indian imitation in film songs began in the mid-1970s when the radio network stopped broadcasting such songs. Furthermore, once the State Film Corporation established its exhibition monopoly, this factor was considered when issuing credit facilities. This directly impacted original local film music. Nanda Malini, even prior to this, had avoided singing Hindi imitations. Examining these songs reveals her deep concern for lyrics. Prominent composers who created melodies for her during her first decade included Amaradeva, Lionel Algama, Shelton Premaratne, Jayatissa Alahakoon, and Premasiri Khemadasa. They appeared to use Nanda Malini's voice as an experimental medium even within film music.
Among these, the song "Sulalitha Sulanghe" from the film Manamalayo serves as a sufficient example when compared to contemporary film music. Among the lyricists who wrote for her, prominent names include Sri Chandraratne Manawasinghe, Fr. Marcelline Jayakody, Arisen Ahubudu, Madawala S. Ratnayake, Mahagama Sekera, Dharmasiri Gamage, Henry Jayasena, Sudas Maskorala, Mudalunayaka Somaratne, Siripal Thilakasena, Sugathapala Senarath Yapa, and George Leslie Ranasinghe.
Maintaining her identity in contemporary film music during that decade while facing life's struggles reflects a defiant spirit that characterizes Nanda Malini's entire life. Leaving further stories to be written about her in the future, this note concludes here. Nanda Malini is the singer who swam against the current.
