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A young talented actress – Nethuki Nethumli

28 Feb 2021

By Kusumanjalee Thilakarathna Photo Eshan Dasanayaka   Nethuki Nethumli is a 12-year-old student from Buddhist Girls’ College, Mount Lavinia. When she was only six years old, she received an opportunity to become a young presenter in the radio programme “Punchi Tharuth Ekka Ayubowan Derana” at Radio Derana. Since then, she has presented in several radio and television programmes on various media channels. Nethuki is also a child actress now giving her contribution to several teledramas. Her debut was a short film – Kandulu Mal by Sanjeewa Bothotawatta.   Tell us about yourself.   My name is Nethuki Nethumli. I am 12 years old and I am a grade eight student of Buddhist Girls’ College, Mount Lavinia. I live in Soysapura, Moratuwa. I live with my mother, father, sister, and brother. My sister is 22 years old and my brother is 18 years old. Since I am the youngest, I get a lot of love and support from everyone in the family. My hobbies are reading books, learning about stars, and singing and dancing.   How did you become a very active member of mass media?   I first received the opportunity to become an amateur radio presenter by joining Radio Derana children's programme “Punchi Tharuth Ekka Ayubowan Derana”. I received a great opportunity there and I was able to overcome my shyness and become a very confident speaker. As I worked on improving myself, I received a lot of opportunities to present more children's programmes and become a voice artist. One of the greatest opportunities I received was being able to join Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation’s (SLBC) “Saraswathi Mandapaya” – a very popular and long-running programme.    How did you get into acting from there?   I started acting when I was 10 years old, right after my grade five scholarship exam. First, I got a chance to act in an episode of a documentary-type TV programme. Then, I was selected for the short film “Kandulu Mal”. I am happy I received an opportunity to act in “Kopi Kade” – the longest-running teledrama in Asia. My latest teledrama was “Mahapolowa”, where I received a chance to act with veterans in the field like Nethali Nanayakkara, Geetha Kanthi Jayakody, and Umali Thilakarathna.   How was your experience with these seniors in the field?   It was lovely. They always advised me about the right thing to do and how to adapt to the character I am playing. It was a great honour to me as a child to act together with veterans like that. I was very encouraged by their support, especially Umali Akki’s advice. She advised me on how I can balance my education with this extra work I do. She said it is very important to do so. So I am going to try to balance both.   Do you take part in any extracurricular activities in school too?   Yes. But not a lot. Anyway, we were not able to continue any school-related extra activities since last year because the schools were closed. I miss playing table tennis. I only get to play table tennis at school. I have participated in many in school and inter-school language competitions in Sinhala and English. I even participate in Tamil reading competitions. I have won many medals and certificates. I am awaiting one certificate I won; it got delayed due to Covid restrictions. I am also a member of the Muthuhara Children’s Society in my area.   What are your favourite subjects at school?   I like all my subjects, especially science, maths, English, and history. I like history because I like the endless number of stories I get to read in the history book and it’s fun to learn about what happened in the past and stories about various kings and queens. Reading books is one of the activities I enjoy the most. Apart from history books I also like to read storybooks. I think my favourite book is “Hath Pana” by Kumaratunge Munidasa.   Where did you learn how to dance and sing?   Only in school. We have dancing as a subject in school. I still don’t study music as a subject. I’d like to study music also further. It makes me really happy to sing.   You said you are also working as a dubbing artiste. Tell us more about your experience.   Well, by now I have given voice to many characters including the young turtle in “A Turtle's Tale 2”. Most of the projects for which I have contributed are children’s movies. I would say being a voice artiste is tougher than acting. When you are acting it's your own body that goes with your voice, so you don’t have to worry about your lip movements or so. But when you are dubbing, you have to be mindful of the lip movements of the original actor or the cartoon character. But with practice and guidance, I was able to grasp the correct way to do it very fast.   What is your ambition? Do you want to pursue a career in the film industry?   Well, my dream is to study astronomy. Even now, I read a lot of books and articles about stars and planets. But I don’t want to give up acting either. I will have to find a way to balance my work so that I can also act and present.   Is there anyone you want to thank?   Well, there is a long list. First, I want to thank my mother. She is the one who is always taking care of me and accompanies me when I have to go do programmes or shooting. Whatever I have achieved today, is because of her. I want to thank Aunty Gayani. She is the one who encouraged me to sign up for my first radio programme. I fondly remember how Dilrukshi Akki, Wasana Akki, Shanika Tharangani Akki, and Madumali Jayasingha Akki supported me at first. I have to thank the directors Prabath Dushyantha and Sanjeewa Bothotamulla for recognising my talent in acting. I have to thank Sumith Ratnayaka for the role I played in Mahapolowa, which I consider a great opportunity for a young artiste like me. I also have to thank Indunil Jayawardena from SLBC for giving me and a lot of other young talents a chance to showcase their skills on the radio. I can’t forget the support I received from Thanuja V. Wijewickrema and Kasun E. Wickremasinghe. And last but not least my sister, who was my very first audience, and my brother and my father, for giving me the strength to improve myself.  


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