Chandralekha Perera ( si, චන්ද්‍රලේඛා පෙරේරා) (born 1 December 1961), is a popular

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

pop singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Personal life

Perera was born to a middle-class family in

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

. As a child she often sang at home. At school she frequently sang and successfully took part in inter-school competitions. While studying she sang for the band "Spring Time" in Kurunegala. She met her future husband Rookantha Goonatillake in 1976 when he was a

keyboard player A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

for the band. Perera married Rookantha Goonatillake in 1989, and she has three daughters and a son. Two children from her previous marriage; Daughter Shyami Nadisha and Son Yohan Kumarage. She has two daughters with Rookantha, Raini Charuka and Windy.

Music career

Without her knowledge, Perera's father submitted his daughter's name to a Sri-Lankan government-sponsored youth organization

National Youth Services Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(NYSC). She subsequently attended and had a successful interview. She also appeared on the national television service in Sri Lanka that was a gift from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to Sri Lanka and was at that time

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

test transmissions. Perera was noticed by the film director and producer

D. B. Nihalsinghe Dr. Diongu Badaturuge Nihalsingha (known as ''D. B. Nihalsinghe'', 27 May 1939 – 21 April 2016) was an accomplished Sri Lankan film director, cinematographer, editor, producer. He was noted for his versatility : as a film cameraman, as a fil ...

while he was reporting on NYSC. He selected her to act in his new

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

''Rekha'', which made her a star. She was given the award for best

television actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

in 1986 (for ''Nadee Geethaya'', another series by Nihalsinghe), and the award for best

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

in the same year (for the film ''Yali Hamuwennai''). She was signed for LUX International by

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

at that time. Perera has sung duets with many popular singers and actors.

Vijaya Kumaranatunga Kovilage Anton Vijaya Kumaranatunga ( si, කොවිලගේ ඇන්ටන් විජය කුමාරණතුංග; ta, விஜய_குமாரணதுங்க; 9 October 1945 – 16 February 1988), popularly known as Vijaya ...

, sang more than 15 songs with her.

Violent incident

In 2000, she and her husband were violently attacked by the Presidential Security Division (PSD) of president

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

and threatened with death if they performed at anti-government events. The attack sparked a protest by

Dharmasiri Bandaranayake Dr. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake (born 06th of October 1949) is a Sri Lankan film director and playwright. Particularly work as a playwright, Bandaranayake is an artist who attempts to connect the sociopolitical environment with the civil society thr ...

who thereafter also received death threats. In the wake of these developments, ''Artists Against Violence'' (AAV) was founded. Ten officers of the PSD were arrested for the attacks and given jail sentences in 2013, but Rookantha her husband and Chandralekha both handed in a letter to president

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

.President pardons jailed PSD officers
'' Colombo Gazette'' 11 April 2014 asking him to pardon the wrongdoers as they have chosen to forgive them especially because the PSD officials who were arrested are mere workers of the previous president and punishing the innocent is not their intention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Chandralekha 1961 births Living people Sri Lankan Roman Catholics 20th-century Sri Lankan women singers People from North Western Province, Sri Lanka Sinhalese singers 21st-century Sri Lankan women singers