Dilhani Ekanayake
Quick Facts
Biography
Dilhani Ashokamala Ekanayake (Sinhalese: දිල්හානි ඒකනායක; born 20 January 1973) is an award-winning Sri Lankan film teledrama actress and a model.
Life and career
Ekanayake studied at St Clare's girls school, in Colombo. She is married to singer and actor Priyankara Perera son of singer Milton Perera. She has a son age sixteen. Her early roles were confined to commercial films. Her ability to dance and her trade mark smile captivated the audiences. She is known as the Sridevi of Sri Lanka. Her career hit a different trail with her role as an abandoned Tamil girl in the film Me Mage Sandai by Asoka Handagama. This serious role paved the way for other remarkable performances in "Sudu Kalu Saha Alu" (Shades of Grey), "Mage Wam Atha" (My Left Hand) and "Sulanga" (Wind). She has also starred in several teledramas of which "Maya Ranga" and "Meeduma" stand out. She plays a major role in the Sri Lankan movie star show "Ridee Reyak", which is a very popular annual event in Sri Lanka. As the Sinhala film industry has slumped due to stiff competition from Bollywood and a resurgence of teledramas, Ekanayake is one of the few actors working to keep Sinhala cinema afloat.
Career
Ekanayake made her cinema debut in 1989 from the film titled Dedunnen Samanaliyak directed by Yasapalitha Nanayakkara.
She won the Sarasaviya Best Actress Award in 2005 at the Sarasaviya Film Festival and presidential award Sri Lanka.she also won the best actress award from "sudu kalu saha alu" film.recently she won Best Actress awards from Signis Golden (OCIC)Award and First Derana Lux film awards in 2012 for her performance in "Gamani" film.She has been an ambassador for Lux.
Also she made some notable roles in Mage Wam atha, Sulanga, Me Mage Sandai, Sudu Kalu Saha Alu, Pem Kekula (comedy), Maya Ranga (teledrama), Swarna Kingkini (teledrama), Meeduma (teledrama) also her latest performance in Dhawala Doowili and Deviya Sugala.