Meerigama “ Mihiraavya” Punya, Celebrates Her 86th Birthday – Dr. Gamini Kariyawasam
Punya Heendeniya, who can be considered an embodiment of village femininity, is celebrating her 86th birthday on July 31. Although this ‘village girl’ lives in a foreign environment, she retains her village features and beauty as she steps into old age. Punya has completed eight and a half decades of her life, and no fan who sees her would guess it.
It makes sense to start this article about Punya Heendeniya with a quote made by Henry Jayasena, the lead actor of the movie ‘Gamperaliya,’ while writing a letter to the ‘Daily News’:
“The Mundial Film Festival in Mexico was held from November 21 to December 4, 1965, with the participation of 13 countries. On November 26, a press interview was called before the closing ceremony. Punya received a request from the organizers to appear on stage wearing a bathing suit, as was the tradition of this festival. She flatly refused the request. Journalists were stunned. They couldn’t believe their eyes. The audience could not believe that when many stars displayed their half-naked bodies and lined up on the stage to get more attention from the organizers and the audience, only one actress refused to do so. She handled the English language very calmly and deftly and said, ‘It is against my principles. Moreover, such half-naked dressing is not compatible with Sri Lankan traditions and Sinhala culture,’ she said with a smile. The camera lenses of all the photographers were directed towards Punya, who entered the stage dressed in a beautiful cheethe cloth and a top. The next morning, all the front pages were decorated with Punya’s charming pictures. Her ideal was that what is important for an actress is to live in her role through acting and not to display nakedness.”
Punya Heendeniya, who is filled with the majesty of her name, is an actress who naturally inherited the skill of portraying any main character. Punya Heendeniya can be considered a national symbol not only of Sinhala femininity but also of Sinhala cinema.
She is blessed to have the sweetest and most peaceful environment of Mirigama as her hometown. Heendeniya Vidanaralala’s meritorious birth benefit is July 31, 1938. She was the fifth child in a family of seven siblings. Her three elder sisters, Daya, Sheela, Ramya, and her elder brother Weerawardena, who was a music instructor, are not alive at present. Punya’s younger brother, Karunasinghe, is a retired electrical engineer.
M.A. Heendeniya, her father, was a planter who owned land in the Mirigama area. Her mother, Mrs. D.L. Kahavitage, hailed from Panadura. The home environment where Punya grew up naturally led her to art. It is said that she enjoyed listening to her father, who was an expert violinist, tuning stringed instruments and singing old songs. In this way, a unique aesthetic environment was created in the house that led her to an acting career. She studied at Mirigama Primary School, and Mirigama Maha Vidyalaya was her second school. Her school dance teacher was the famous Mr. Panibharata. In 1954, she was lucky enough to participate in a dance trained by Master Panibharata in the film ‘Ashoka’ directed by Sirisena Wimalaweera. That was the first time she stepped on the silver screen.
The traditional Mirigama Mahagedara, where she spent her childhood, was located next to Sasana Vardhana Buddhist Temple. Medhankara Nayaka Thero, who was the Chief of Vihara at that time, was a close relative of Punya’s father, who was a devout Buddhist. That priest was very helpful for her to turn to devout Buddhist practice.
Punya acted together with her sister Ramya in the movie ‘Kurulu Bedda.’ Punya’s apprentice son Anupama came to Sri Lanka in 1982 at the invitation of Lester James Peirce. He acted as Nanda and Piyal’s son in the film ‘Kali Yuga.’
Galle district doctor Milroy Nanayakkara was a movie fan who was attracted to Punya’s acting. Finally, this fan had the fortune of marrying this unique actress of the silver screen. After the marriage, they moved to England to live. After going abroad, she acted in only a handful of films. Punya’s son Anupama and daughter Purnima are medical professionals. Punya has become a loving grandmother to her six grandchildren.
In particular, her simplicity, rusticity, social connection, skillful dancing, ability to express her ideas very expressively in both Sinhala and English, and literary arts skills seem to be the reasons for her becoming a unique actress in Sinhala cinema. Punya contributed to ‘Ditti Mangalika Mudra Natya’ by singing songs. She also created a literary work called ‘BRNDA’ and made her creativity known internationally.
Punya Heendeniya, who entered the silver screen in 1955 by presenting a dance element in the film ‘Ashoka,’ acted in the lead roles in 11 films such as ‘Land of the Gods,’ ‘Sunita,’ ‘Sri 296,’ ‘Kurulu Bedda,’ ‘Venus Star,’ ‘Gamperaliya,’ ‘Parasathu Mal,’ ‘Ran Salu,’ ‘Hita Giya Thana,’ and ‘Kali Yuga.’
mages of ‘රන් සළු Film ‘
Some images of ‘Gamperaliya’
In this way, Punya Heendeniya has acted in fewer films in her acting career, but she has managed to get more awards than the number of films she has acted in. I would like to mention here some of the countless awards won by Punya Heendeniya: 1964 Sarasaviya Film Award for Best Actress, 1965 Grandne (Golden Peacock) Award for Best Actress, 1968 Swarn Salu Award, and 1985 President’s Award. Punya Heendeniya represented Sri Lanka at the United Nations headquarters in New York on World Human Rights Day.
I intend to end this article with a note she made about the occasion when she met Mahagama Sekara for the first time in her life:
“We landed in the late afternoon at John F. Kennedy Airport, which was covered in snow. We were warmly welcomed by the staff members of the Sri Lanka mission. Among them, I saw a tall, tanned, handsome figure that I had only seen in pictures but never met in person. It was none other than our own Mahagama Sekara. The funny thing about it was that he was from the Sienna corrale and I was from the adjoining Harpitigam corrale. We are from the rural villages of Mirigama and Radawana. We had to meet for the first time at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. On one occasion, from the 42nd floor of the hotel, written by Mahagama Sekara ‘මේ සිංහල අපගේ රටයි, මුළු ලොව ඒ රටට යටයි’ was sung, with a feeling of patriotism overflowing in our hearts.
After dinner, we went to our lodge. It was a mesmerizing winter night. Unusually, the full moon was shining brightly in the sky. It was a very familiar sight to all of us, and Mahagama Sekara was among us. We heard him muttering, ‘ගමේ අඳුරන කෙනෙක් හමුවුනා වගේ’ – ‘It’s like meeting someone you know in the village.’”
I would like to express my gratitude to Punya Heendeniya’s close relative, Sudarshika Siriwardena of Mirigama General Hospital, who provided a lot of important information in the compilation of this article.
( all images from Utube)
Dr. Gamini Kariyawasam
gaminee@gmail.com
‘Gamperaliya’ can be seen by clicking on the link shown here.>
