Sri Lankan film and TV star Nadeesha Hemamali, who played the seductress, Madhumati, in the 2011 Telugu film Mr Rascal directed by R V Udayakumar, has joined the opposition United National Party (UNP) with an intention to contest the forthcoming Southern Provincial Council elections.
Speaking to Express here on Friday after enrolling herself in the party, Nadeesha said she was no stranger to politics as her family had a long history of association with the UNP.
The Southern Province elections, expected early next year, will be a star-studded affair with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) likely to field actors Anarkali and Geetha Kumarasinghe. But Nadeesha does not consider them a challenge. “The challenge is from the people,” she said, like a seasoned politico.
With Upeksha Swarnamali’s defection to the ruling party, the UNP is left with only Nadeesha to add a touch of cinematic glamour to its campaign.
Asked about her experience of acting in the Telugu movie, Nadeesha said, “I enjoyed doing it. I liked the company of my co-stars and the unit members. But language was a big problem. I had a hard time getting the pronunciation right. I did get offers to do other films there, but I could not take them up because of the language problem and also because I could not stay away from Sri Lanka for long periods.”
R V Udayakumar, who has given Tamil hits like Singaravelan and Chinna Gownder, praised Nadeesha’s acting ability. “She played a character in Mr Rascal and did well,” he said.
Sinhalese actresses he has directed tend to take the political plunge, Udayakumar pointed out. “I was to direct Upeksha Swarnamali in an Indo-Lankan co-production about seven years ago. The project had to be abandoned because the Lankan co-producer died. But before long, Upeksha had become an MP,” he recalled.