We all know that music is our best escape. No matter where we are, we cannot escape from music.
Have you never spent a day without listening to music? Every hour, every minute a new creation is introduced and thanks to enlightened producers, we have quality, meaningful music. We can never forget the pieces of music that have touched our hearts and they never leave the play lists on our mobiles.
Youth Observer met up with vocalist and award winning actress Dinupa Kodagoda, the featured singer and actress in the video Kuweniye and best actress at the State Drama Festival 2017.
Children of the 90s who were in love with Hapan Pedura (the chidren's program) will never forget her.
Q : Tell us how you joined the music industry?
Visharada Nanda Malini was my first teacher. She has directed and guided me in the right path in the field of music since I was a child. I respect her and consider her as a truly genuine teacher.
With her guidance I joined Hapan Pedura, the music program that was telecast by Swarnawahini, when I was a child.
That is where I learnt how to perform a song inside a studio. Jackson Anthony who was the director of the program trained us with the intention of making us young professional singers.
That experience put the foundation to my career and opened up opportunities for me to sing in various programs. Later, I participated in cartoon programs and a few commercials. Sathpura Wesiyo is a teleldrama where I contributed in singing under the guidance of Rohana Weerasinghe.
Q : How have you continued?
I schooled at St. Josephs Convent, Nugegoda. While at school I was enthusiastic about participating in dancing and singing competitions. This motivated me to choose ‘arts’ as a main stream subject. My dedication and hard work led me to enter the University of Visual and Performing Arts. I chose Kathak as my main subject.
University is the place where I enriched and broadened my knowledge about the arts and sharpened my dancing and singing skills. Soon after I finished studies at university, I received an invitation from Ananda Abeynayake to perform a character in the teledrama Sansaare Piyasatahan. Even though I didn’t have enough knowledge about acting at that time, I took the challenge and faced that novel experience.
This made me interested in learning to act and I started performing in many stage dramas. In 2017 I became the best actress at the State Drama Festival which I consider as the biggest achievement in my life. Hard work really pays off.
Q : With Ridma Weerawardane's song Kuweniye you won the hearts of music lovers over night. How did you do that?
Kuweniye is an exception. It broke the conventional music pattern that was repeated over the years.
As Kuweniye is deep in meaning and visuals, people embraced it. We received compliments from everybody who watched it. It was a lovely surprise for all of us who contributed to its making.
My special thanks go to Ridma Weerawardane (vocalist), Chandrasena Thalangama (lyricist), Charitha Attalage (music and melody), and Baratha Gihan Hettiarachchi (director).
Q : What do you consider to be a work of art?
A work of art should be meaningful and should convey something that influences society in a good way. Most of the directors and producers tend to create quality productions to build up more followers.
Q : Your thoughts on contemporary music productions?
The younger generations of today are very lucky, because they have skilled artistes. Charith Attalage, Ridma Weerawardane, Sanuka Wickramage are a few talented artistes who inspire the young generation to get back on the quality track. But still I see that there are songs that cannot be accepted as meaningful. I feel the audience will distace itself from music that doesn’t entertain.
Q : What makes an artiste unique?
There is a huge trend among youth - copying other artistes. I consider thie the biggest failure of a person and it is very disappointing. If there is already a particular kind of an artiste there is no need for another. If we keep copying each other, there won’t be any uniqueness. Creating our own style will lead to build up variety in the music industry.
Q : What message would you like to give the young who are aspiring to become artistes?
First, they should realise that reality shows are not the only path to become an artiste. It is very pathetic that many believe that their talent should be judged by the sms’ sent by the audience. Short cuts are good for nothing. But what we build up over the years with our hard work and dedication will create an irreplaceable position for us in the industry. For example if a singer is using pitch correcting software to enhance the quality of his/her work, that is cheating. A talented singer doesn’t need any of these technologies to correct their performance.