Veteran singing duo Sisira Senaratne and Indrani Senaratne who together have made tuneful contributions for more than five decades, marked a golden milestone last Thursday when they celebrated their 50th year in matrimony.

To coincide with the five decades in music Indrani Senaratne also published a book titled ‘Ran Piyawara’ recently encompassing the melodious past in the music industry.

“It’s 55 years since we entered the music scene. In fact we sang from our schooldays. I started singing four years before Sisira did. I first sang for ‘Rekhawa’ and those songs like Wesak Kekulu and Sudu Sanda Eliye are popular even today. Initially I sang children’s songs for about ten films,” said Indrani.

Sisindra was also a big hit?

Sisindra is a concert featuring me and Sisira and it was held in 14 countries including England, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, Singapore and Middle Eastern countries. It was held in Sri Lanka only in January this year. My son Sameera joined me in the duets at this show because Sisira was not too well. We were also felicitated during the ceremony by the SLBC, National Film Corporation and the Cultural Ministry.

What is ‘Ran Piyawara’ all about?

It is a narration of the journey I made since 1951 and I must say that R. R. Samarakoon and Dharmasiri Gamage really motivated me to write something of this sort. It is a Sarasavi Publication and I am thankful to H. D. Premasiri. A CD was also released during the Ran Piyawara launch in Colombo. I am grateful to Kularatne Ariyawansa, Bandara Eheliyagoda, Prem Dissanayake, Mahinda Kalpage and others who helped us a lot to make this event a success.

Have you sung duets with others apart from Sisira?

Of course, before I sang with Sisira I sang duets with Susil Premaratne and W. D. Amaradewa. I liked Sisira’s songs from his very first number ‘Me Loke Mawa Pewe’. We met during the Rekhawa project and married later. Among my favourite duets are ‘Dhammi Sugath’ and ‘Gaya Geethayan Game Wel Eliye’. ‘Mage Puthuta Mal’ is my all time favourite of Sisira’s songs. Though we have not sung new songs for the past ten years, our old songs are extremely popular even today.

Our eldest son Sanjaya is domiciled in Germany. Our daughter Subhani Kumari can also sing. Sameera who is the youngest sang at the Sisindra concert while his son Senuja also sang ‘Mage Puthuta Mal’ at the concert.  

Your views about the new generation..?

There are some new generation singers who distort old songs. That’s a crime. Even when they do their own songs they have to be extra careful about the lyrics and melodies. I don’t think young singers today take things seriously, because they depend a lot on technology.

We made a name for ourselves through long years of hard work and commitment. You can’t become popular overnight. Today there is also a tendency to popularize songs through visuals.


You received your first award as a schoolgirl?

Yes, that was as a Devi Balika Vidyalaya student. I also won the first Deepashika award in 1957. In addition I received the Sarasaviya, Presidential and other prestigious awards.




(By Vasantha Wimalasinghe)