U.W. Sumathipala Awards

The Sumathi U.W. Sumathipala Memorial Award is presented annually by the Sumathi Group of Companies associated with many commercial brands for the artists who devoted their life to the improvement of Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television. The award named in honour of U. W. Sumathipala, the father of current Sumathi Group owner and the founder of Sumathi Awards, Thilanga Sumathipala.^[1]

The award was first given in 1996, and in some years the award has been given to more than one person individual. The following is a list of the winners of this award.^[2]

Award winners

Year	Award Winner	Notable work	Ref.
1996	Titus Thotawatte	Director, actor and founder of Sri Lankan dubbing cartoon history.	^[3]
1997	Gamini Fonseka	Actor, director, politician and first crowned king of Sinhala cinema.	^[4]
1998	Denawaka Hamine	Actress and the grand old lady of Sinhala cinema.	^[5]
	Hugo Fernando	Actor, lyricist, assistant director and music director.	^[6]
1999	K. A. W. Perera	Producer, director and screen play writer.	^[7]
	Joe Abeywickrama	Actor, author and second crowned king of Sinhala cinema.	^[4]
2000	Tony Ranasinghe	Actor, screen play writer and third crowned king of Sinhala cinema.	^[4]
	Christy Leonard Perera	Actor, musician and renowned comedian.	^[8]
2001	Iranganie Serasinghe	Actress, journalist, teacher and granny of Sinhala cinema.	^[9]
	Malani Fonseka	Actress, director, producer and the Queen of Sinhala cinema.	^[10]
2002	Henry Jayasena	Actor, screenplay writer, director and one of most influential theater actors.	^[11]
	Ravindra Randeniya	Actor and politician, who awarded more than 6 times as the best actor.	^[12]
2003	Sathischandra Edirisinghe	Veteran actor, filmmaker, teledrama director with 50 years service in Sri Lankan art.	^[13]
	Robin Fernando	Veteran actor, and pioneer of Sri Lankan stunts.	^[14]
2004	Wijeratne Warakagoda	Veteran actor, director and icon in Sinhala stage plays.	^[15]
	Latha Walpola	Veteran singer rated as the Nightingale of Sri Lankan Music industry.	^[16]
2006	Shanthi Lekha	Actress who appeared over 350 Sinhala films as the mother.	^[17]
	Shan Wickremesinghe	Media mogul, broadcaster, broadcast engineer, who is the founder of Sri Lanka's first television station.	^[18]
2007	Nanda Malini	Singer, lecturer, music director and one of most influential singers in Sri Lankan music industry.	^[19]
	Stanley Perera	Actor, who appeared in more than 40 films in Early phase of Sinhala cinema.	^[20]
2008	Roy de Silva	Veteran actor, director, producer, screen play writer, rated as one of the most successful film makers in the Sri Lankan cinema.	^[21]
	Rex Kodippili	Veteran actor, who appeared in more than 50 films as the villain in Sinhala cinema.	^[22]
2009	Clarice de Silva	Actress, who appeared in the Sinhala cinema in the early phase.	^[23]
	Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya	Actress, who appeared in the Sinhala cinema in the early golden phase.	^[24]
2010	Sunil Ariyaratne	Scholar, film director, author, poet, lyricist and one of Sri Lankan most influential senior artists.	^[25]
	Sriyani Amarasena	Veteran actress, director, producer who appeared many highly rated blockbuster films.	^[26]
2011^[27]	Anula Karunathilaka	Veteran actress best noted for the role Dammi in blockbuster film Golu Hadawatha.	^[28]
	Angeline Gunathilake	Veteran singer and composer, who was one of the leading playback singers of Sinhala cinema.	^[29]
2012	Cyril Wickramage	Veteran actor, director and singer, known for participating mainly in artistic Sinhala cinema.	^[30]
	Victor Rathnayake	Veteran singer, violinist, music director, composer, lyricist, who is the first Sri Lankan musician to hold a live one-man concert.	^[31]
2013	Punya Heendeniya	Veteran actress, who considered as a legend in Sinhala cinema.	^[32]
	Sanath Nandasiri	Veteran singer, music director, composer, lyricist, who is one of the leading singers in Sri Lankan music industry.	^[33]
2014	Rohana Weerasinghe	Veteran musician, composer and singer, one of Sri Lanka's leading composers in the history.	^[34]
	Sujatha Attanayake	Music Director, Lecturer, Veteran singer, who is one of the leading singers in Sri Lankan music industry.	^[35]
2015	A. D. Ranjith Kumara	Veteran artist, journalist, designer who covered over 300 cover designs.	^[36]
	Indrani Wijebandara	Veteran singer, who is one of the leading singers in Sri Lankan music industry.	^[37]^[38]
2016	Amarasiri Kalansuriya	Veteran actor, who is renowned for award winning dramatic roles in Sinhala cinema.	^[39]
	Anoja Weerasinghe	Veteran actress, producer and a social activist who is one of most influential actors in Sinhala art.	^[40]
2017	Nita Fernando	Veteran actress, and producer who is renowned for award winning dramatic roles in Sinhala cinema.	^[41]
	Swarna Mallawarachchi	Veteran actress, who is considered as the Golden star of Sinhalese cinema.	^[42]
2018	Tissa Wijesurendra	Veteran award winning actor highly popularized during 1970s.	^[43]
	Geetha Kumarasinghe	Veteran actress and politician, who is the recipient of Sarasaviya Award in four times.	^[44]
2019^[45]	Alexander Fernando	Veteran actor, one of the action heroes in early Sinhala cinema.	^[46]
	Sumana Amarasinghe	Veteran actress, considered as the Sweet Girl of Sinhala cinema.	^[47]
2021	Douglas Ranasinghe	Veteran actor, one of the popular actor in 1970s Sinhala cinema.	^[48]
	Manel Wanaguru	Veteran actress, one of the popular actress in 1970s Sinhala cinema.	^[49]

References

1. "About Sumathi Awards". www.sumathiawards.lk.
2. "Sumathi Award winners in each year". www.sumathiawards.lk.
3. "Titus Thotawatte , a pathfinder". Sunday Observer.
4. "The last of the Trinity". The Nation. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
5. "The grand old lady". Daily News. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
6. Uvais, Ramesh (2006). "Hugo Master: The Multi-Faceted Entertainer". Daily Mirror.
7. "K. A. W. No more". Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
8. "Christy Leonard passed away". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
9. "Irangani Serasinghe: the mother of all our mothers". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
10. "Cinema Queen Malani Fonseka". Mirror Arts. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
11. "Dramatist". Ragahala. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
12. "Ravindra Randeniya: Reflections on a frown". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
13. "Sathis celebrates golden jubileen". Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
14. "Robin Fernando". National Film Corporation Of Sri Lanka.
15. "Master of song and stage (interview)". Nation.lk. 26 August 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
16. "Sri Lanka's nightingale Latha Walpola completes 70 years in singing career". Daily FT. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
17. "Shanthi Lekha: On embracing the mother". Daily News. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
18. "TNL Chairman to take legal action against TRCSL". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
19. "Nanda Malini". Sri Lanka Singers. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
20. "Stanley Perera". National Film Corporation. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
21. "Roy de Silva passes away". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
22. "Retake on the 'GOOD' baddie". Daily News. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
23. "Clarice De Silva - ක්ලැරිස් ද සිල්වා". Films.lk. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
24. "WHY nobody can forget JK". Daily News. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
25. "Sri Lanka: Sunil Ariyaratne — A Literary Legend". SL Guardian. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
26. "Sriyani Amarasena: The Fragile Female". Daily News. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
27. "Sumathi Tele Awards 2011". The Sunday Times.
28. "Anula Karunathilaka: The Dhammi of our sensibilities". Daily News. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
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31. . Daily News. 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
32. "Punya Heendeniya and the cinema of femininity". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
33. "Sanath Nandasiri". Sri Lanka Singers Association. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
34. "Rohana Weerasinghe's musical art and philosophy". Infolanka. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
35. "Sujatha Attanayake". Sri Lanka Singers Association. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
36. "A. D. Ranjith Kumara - Kuromaku". Sunday Observer. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
37. සිසිර සේනාරත්න අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වේ
38. සිසිර සේනාරත්න නිහඞ වෙයි !
39. "Amarasiri Kalansuriya: Stuck in the summer". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
40. "Anoja Weerasinghe: Privileging Instinct". Daily News. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
41. "Nita Fernando and the parameters of fame". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
42. "Swarna Mallawarachchi: The woman I saw". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
43. "Tissa: The yesteryear heartthrob". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
44. "Geetha Kumarasinghe: Giving out while never giving in". Fragments. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
45. "ITN wins several awards at the Sumathi Awards Festival". ITN.
46. "Sports star turned action hero". Daily News. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
47. "Sweet Girl of Sinhala cinema". Mawurata News. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
48. "Douglas Ranasinghe: Second to none". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
49. "ආනන්ද-මානෙල් විවාහයට ජනිත්ගෙන් සුබපැතුම්". Star Friends. Retrieved 30 July 2019.