From church choir to Sinhala cinema’s queen of nightingales
Latha Walpola: A household name
Her silver bell of a voice was immediately recognisable over the radio for nearly 80 years. Countless films endeared themselves to fans due to her honey-sweet tone. Latha Walpola, the doyenne of our cinematic songstresses, has now passed on to join the celestial choir…
Of course, she was not one of the “prabuddha” singers, yet she was loved by the intelligentsia as well as the most humble. And when times were hard, she worked behind the shop counter in the family-run business, so unassuming was this ‘Queen of nightingales’.
Latha, or rather Matharage Rita Genevieve Fernando to give her full and very Roman Catholic birth name, was born at a time when, while it was respectable to sing in the choir at church, to get involved with ‘bioscopes’ was frowned upon. While Latha’s father, a man of the old guard, was of this rigid stance, her mother Elizabeth Muriel, a convent school teacher, encouraged her to go where that golden voice that soared to the rafters of the church would lead her.
Born in the early ’thirties, Latha who passed away at 91 on December 27, lived in Bambalapitiya in her very first years but soon the family shifted to Mount Lavinia, where schooling was at St. Anthony’s Convent. As a girl, she was enrapt by the haunting voice of Rukmani Devi and the legendary Chitra Somapala.
Of the brood of four she brought up and her grandchildren, one closest to her was grandson Thisara Bandara, himself a singer. Says Thisara, “She was the best friend I had, so much so that everyone called me ‘aachchige netta’. She was loving but was direct in her speech, and her heart melted very quickly.”
Latha, a foodie, had a weakness for stringhoppers, hoppers and roti but when someone returned from abroad, her one request was red-waxed cheese. “She loved clothes and every month she would discard and give away some 30 to 40 sarees. She loved watching TV and was very up-to-date. She knew all the up and coming singers better than us, and she would often call me and enthuse, “meya hari lassanata sindu kiyanawa”.
“On Sundays, like clockwork, she went to the Fatima Church in Maradana. She could also sew, garden, and loved cooking, often relieving my mother (singer Dhammika Bandara) of kitchen work,” he recalls.
Of Latha’s massive discography (6750 film songs alone for 600 films) among the best loved were Ron soya, Pokuru pokuru, Ammala duk ganne, Namo Mariyani and Hima renu wetena. Yet the beginnings of her career were as fraught with challenges almost like a ’forties film; her father being dead against her involvement with the cinema.
It was their neighbour Wilman Silva who paved the way for her to meet C. A. Fonseka, the radio dramatist who introduced many a pioneering artist to Radio Ceylon. Following this she joined the Radio Ceylon Choir, and by 14, was singing in a monthly radio programme.
Her first solo was Kandulu denethe wehena but her mark was made with Ru rese andina lese (with the poetry of the classical Guttila Kavya), the catchy Ran wan dul karalin and of course Namo Mariyani in praise of the Virgin Mary.
It was Susil Premaratne, Latha’s guru, who christened the rising diva ‘Latha’, after India’s legendary Lata Mangeshkar. Around this time, with the irrepressible C. T. Fernando she would sing her first duets – “Selalihini Kovul”, “Malbara Himidiriye” and “Lo Ada Ninde“. By 1950, at 15, she was a household name.
Her first playback songs were for the film Eda Re – the springboard for this most prolific of all our female singers. But it was not only with the ilk of Sarath Dasanayake and R. Muttusamy (names associated with the popular music) that she worked; she also collaborated with the likes of Premasiri Khemadasa and of course Amaradeva.
It was ‘on the set’ that she met her husband Dharmadasa Walpola, who had to cover for singer Aruna Shanti who had a bad throat. Her first song with Walpola was Honda hondama weya lowa, and theirs proved to be a compatible partnership, in life and on set, collaborating on 35 films.
It is said that young Latha early on triggered an exodus of Indian female singers such as Jikki, Jamuna Rani and K. Rani back to their own country as film producers now had a true home-grown voice that outdid the Desi divas!
Latha has sung for 63 Sri Lankan actresses, from Wansawathie Dalugala in crackling black and white film to Anarkali Akarsha, and amidst the male singers she sang duets with are Mohideen Baig, Amaradeva, Sanath Nandasiri, Victor Ratnayake, Clarence Wijewardena, M. S. Fernando, Gratien Ananda and Rookantha Gunathilake. Probably her most enduring and iconic association was with H. R. Jothipala.
Amidst the accolades Latha won are four Sarasaviya awards, one Deepasikha award (in 1974) and the illustrious titles Kala Suri and Deshamanya.
Amidst those who mourn her passing is Mariazelle Goonetilleke, who said “She was a much senior artiste when I knew her at SEAC sweep-draws. I held her in awe… I called her every birthday, and the last time I called she said “you never forget me”… She lived a rich, fruitful life and with her everything ended in laughter.
A "beautiful person": Latha in later years
“Once my son got a Superman costume as a gift from abroad and appeared on TV in it. Latha’s little grandson had asked for one like that and Latha called me and asked how to get one. None being locally available she came all the way from Waragoda to Nugegoda to buy it but I offered it to her as a gift. She would later share a picture of her grandson wearing the costume saying ‘you will not believe the expression on his face!’”
Said veteran singer Indrani Perera, “I have beautiful memories of Latha. I had a wonderful time with her and in a word, she was such a ‘beautiful’ person.”
Wrote popular singer and musician Rukshan Perera to us: “It’s mind-boggling to fathom that she has entertained five generations of Sri Lankans, with songs in over 600 films and some 10,000 songs which is an absolute record even on the international stage! She created a family of fabulous musicians, and I have had the honour to share the stage with her son Chaminda Walpola, son-in-law Mahinda Bandara and grandson Thisara Bandara.
“Her songs will be sung for generations to come. May her soul rest in peace!”
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