The above
link is of Rukmani devi singing ‘ Thei(tea) pan dina dina vedi vedi ye, beemen
sirurata sepa vediye’ of the 1940s. Very popular then. Rarely heard now.
Discovered
by Rupasinghe Master, she was a sensation in singing, acting on stage and
film.
A beauty,
warm personality, deep quality voice; without a touch of haughtiness, she
remained Daisy Akka to all name being Daisy Daniels. A Tamil lady who spoke
perfect Sinhala.
She acted
and sang in our first film “ Kadavunu Poronduwa’.
Unlike
Mohideen Baig the other great singer-from India, who spoke Sinhala but got his
song words written in English.
Baig
did the first Sinhala song recording with ‘ Karuna Muhude Naaamu gileela’
Rukmani’s
first recorded song was with Rupasinghe Master around 1936- ‘Buddhagaya Vihare’
the tune being Hindi.
She would
always prostrate herself before her teacher whenever she met Rupasinghe.
Rukmani’s
and Baig’s voices matched perfectly for films. Both quality
singers, not those microphone only ones.
My mother
said she saw her on stage in ‘Chintamani’- 1930s.
Enjoy
Jksw
PS
