Roshini Gunaratne is perhaps most well known to many as a lead singer in one of the premiere choir groups in Sri Lanka, Soul Sounds. To others, a superb dancer, stage actress and to those who truly know her, an animal lover! she is passionate about all and much more. Her list of achievements would amaze anyone especialy for someone so young.

Roshini started singing at the age of fifteen when she joined the Senior Choir of Holy Family Convent. she enjoyed her time with the choir so much and was so passionate sauce about keeping the group togther, she, along with a few seniors became the founding members of the choir group Soul Sounds.  

Her love for the stage began when she participated in Shakespeare Drama Competitions while in school and then in the musical ‘Smike’ directed by Jerome L. de Silva in 1999. Since then she has been actively involved in many theatre productions, the most recent being Evita directed by Jerome L. de Silva. She is also a professionally trained dancer, having trained in Latin American dancing under Kevin Nugara and competed in local Latin Dance Championships, winning several medals in competitions held from 2007 to 2010.

Speaking about her years as a dancer, she admits her first love is dancing but like singing, she took it up late in life, “there’s only so far you can go with dancing. And after dancing for close to 10 years, I decided to take a break from it. Competitions are tough in terms of funding and support. The wear and tear on the body is tough after a certain age, and with singing, I just didn’t have the time for both. If I wasn’t in the choir I would have stuck with dancing. But I think it worked out well in the end.”  

As choir leader Roshini shares duties with Soundarie David, and is in charge of costume designing, as well as managing the overall image of the choir. As a senior member of the group, she also helps integrate the younger members, “Sometimes we forget how young they are when they first join because they work just as hard as the seniors do, so it’s important to make them feel like a part of the group early on.” She explained.     

“I don’t know what’s next on the books for me but I don’t want to take on too much acting wise. Soul Sounds do 3 overseas tours a year plus corporate and private events and weddings locally. We do around 5 to 10 show’s a month. I juggle my hours so that I can do everything within the time I have, I’m just glad I don’t work Saturdays. But it works for me because I get restless easy so I need constant stimulation,” she added.

When she does actually get time away from her duties, this self-confessed beach bum love’s to tan herself under the sun. In addition, reading, watch movies and dance videos and playing video games are activities she loves to do.

Her journey as a singer/dancer has not always been easy, while her mother supported her all the way; her father had his reservations about her choices. “My father isn’t really fond of the arts; I think he would have preferred me to be a lawyer or something along those lines, but that kind of career is too disciplined for me. I use to sneak out of the house when I was younger to attend practices and I told him he should be lucky I was only sneaking out for that and not parties,” she recalled with a smile.

Roshini holds a degree in English Honours from the University of Colombo and is currently employed as a Public Relations Consultant at Bates Strategic Alliance PR, a position never thought about but now, feels quite at home with.

Her career in advertising began during her second semester at university, where she’s says she was in danger of falling asleep, “I took up copywriting part time then and after graduation since I was unsure what i wanted to do and hesitant about committing to the arts, a friend of mine told me to give PR a try. I really applied myself to it and now I’ve been here for 3 years.”

PR’s semi corporate environment gives her a creative release as well the flexibility to still be involved in the arts. And she’s says, what ever career she decideds to do later on, the experiecne she gains from working in PR can always be applied to that.

Aside from her involvement in the arts field, Roshini is also determined to participate in women’s empowerment issues, stating that whether on her own or through an organization, the more people who can help the better. 

While there seems to be no end in site for what Roshini is capable of doing, she’s admits that while it may sound like a lot, doing nothing anything less wouldn’t be her. In the end, she has managed to integrate all her interests in a way that suits her and as she puts it, with no regret at all.

By Lake Argent

Pics by Waruna Wannarchchi