Kopi Kade (''Coffee Shop'') ( Sinhala:කෝපි කඩේ) 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 ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series broadcast on the

Independent Television Network Independent Television Network Ltd ( si, ස්වාධීන රූපවාහිනී මාධ්‍ය ජාලය; ta, சுயாதீன தொலைக்காட்சி ஊடக வளையமைப்பு) also known a ...

. One of Sri Lanka's iconic television series in history, Kopi Kade remains the most popular program at its time-slot according to Survey Research Lanka. The 1500th uninterrupted weekly episode was broadcast on January 17, 2017. It was telecasted on Sundays for a brief period, where the drama was starts back to telecast on every Wednesday which was later telecast on every Friday at 9.00 p.m.

Plot

ITN director

Thevis Guruge Thevis Guruge (died 23 July 1989) was a distinguished broadcaster with Radio Ceylon and subsequently the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් ව ...

developed the program as a platform to discuss

social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

s and convey them to the general public. The series would revolve around a village "kopi kade," because small shops that serve

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

and

groceries A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food preservation, packaged ...

generally serve as the center of town life. Women frequent such establishments to obtain the groceries they need, and men join to play games like

draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

while discussing matters of interest.

Cast and characters

Current

Rathna Sumanapala Podirathna Manike Abeygunasekara (born 10 June 1940 as රත්නා සුමනපාල) inhala, popularly known as Rathna Sumanapala, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. One of the most popular television actr ...

as Kopi Kade Hamine * Rodney Fraser as Gajan * K.D. Siripala as Dingi Mahaththaya * Geetha Bulathsinghala as Geetha Naga *

Thilak Kumara Rathnayake Deshashakthi Deshabandu Rathnayake Mudiyanselage Thilak Kumara Rathnayake (born 16 December 1960 as තිලක් කුමාර රත්නායක) inhala, popularly known as Thilak Kumara Rathnayake, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, s ...

as Somadasa * Upasena Subasinghe as Pala * Jayarathna Rupasinghe as Sirisena * Saman Gunawardena as Banda * Sena Gunawardana as Kiri Hoda * Upali Silva as Sugathan * Wasantha Kumarasiri as Sunimal * Kapila Sigera as Shelton Mahattaya * Ariyasena Handuwela as Village Officer * Niluka Rekhani as Kamala * Udeni Chandrasiri as Kapu Mahaththaya * Princy Fernando as Violet * Kumudini Sewwandi as Yasa Naga * Boniface Jayasantha as Poottuwa * Eddie Amarasinghe as Piyum Mahathaya * Awantha Somasiri as Jason * Udaya Kumari Ranasingha as Poli Siriya

Retired

* Kumara Siriwardena as Nimal *

Susila Kottage Hewamunaweerage Susila Devi de Silva (born January 30, 1957 as සුසිලා කෝට්ටගේ) inhala, popularly known as Susila Kottage, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema theater and television. One of Sri Lanka's best female comed ...

as Dayawathi * Nanda Wilegoda as Alis * Damayantha Perera as Suwanda * Rahal Bulathsinghala as Podi Mahaththaya * Ganga Nadee Withana as Tikiri Naga * Saranapala Jayasuriya as Kade Mudalali * Kumari Perera as Kade Hamine's daughter * Dilip Rohana ("Sudhaa" of "La Hiru Dahasak" teledrama) as Kade Hamine's son * Victor Fernando as Loku Hamuduruvo Chief Monk at the Village Temple * Pathma Perera as Kopi Kade Polee Siriya * Jerad Moraes as Kopi Kade Suda * K A Piyakaru as kurun Gurun

Deceased

Denawaka Hamine Kala Suri Dona Meraya Denawaka, (20 February 1906 – 9 December 2002 as දෙනවක හාමිනේ), popularly known as Denawaka Hamine, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema and television. Known as "The grand old lady" of Sinhala cine ...

as Loku Hamine *

Martin Gunadasa Sawunda Hannadige Martin Gunadasa (born 12 February 1930 – died 9 February 2010 as මාටින් ගුණදාස) inhala, popularly known as Martin Gunadasa, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. His most pop ...

as Poli Mudalali *

Chandrasiri Kodithuwakku Kodithuwakku Arachchige Chandrasiri (born 27 December 1949 – died 15 January 2016 as චන්ද්‍රසිරි කොඩිතුවක්කු) inhala, popularly known as Chandrasiri Kodithuwakku, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, ...

as Abilin Maama *

Susila Kuragama Kala Bhushana Susila Kuragama ( සුසිලා කූරගම, inhala 14 October 1943 – 1 February 2016), was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. She became very popular with the role "Ensina" she played in the t ...

as Ensina *

Damitha Saluwadana Damitha Turlin Fernando (born 18 September 1948 – died 27 November 2015 as දමිතා සළුවඩන) inhala, popularly as Damitha Saluwadana, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. She played "Asilin" in t ...

as Asilin * Premadasa Vithanage as Minee Petti Mudalali (Town's Undertaker) * Lal Senadheera as Annasiwatte Rathnapala (Rathne Lamaya) * Ranjith Amarasekara as Iskole Mahaththaya *

Raja Sumanapala Navaratne Bandara Raja Sumanapala (born 1936 – died 2003 as රාජා සුමනපාල) inhala, popularly known as Raja Sumanapala, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. Personal life He was born on 1936 in ...

as Ali Jamis *

Devi Sakunthala Ummu Salma (died 1 March 2019 as දේවී සකුන්තලා) inhala, popularly known by her stage name Devi Sakunthala, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. She is most notable for the role 'Angu Hami' in ...

as Suwanda's Mother - Angu Hami * Wimal Wickramarachchi as Samel Appu * Thusith Pathiraja as Monk at temple * Kusum Kondegama as Sirisena's mother *

Sunil Hettiarachchi Sunil Edmund Hettiarachchi (8 April 1937 – 3 December 2015) was a well-known Sri Lankan comedian and character actor known for his bald appearance with a full beard and skinny frame. Career Hettiarachchi began his film career in 1982 playing a ...

as Giran * Elson Divithurugama as Lee Mudalali * Nanasiri Kaluarachchi as Kaluwa *

Chitra Wakishta Chitra Dhanawalavithana (23 December 1936 – 31 May 2019 as චිත්‍රා වාකිෂ්ඨ) inhala, popularly as Chitra Wakishta, was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. Wakishta is best known for her rol ...

as Somi Nona * Wimaladharma Vitharana as Weda mahaththaya *

Srilal Abeykoon Tissa Srilal Abeykoon (31 December 1953 – 16 April 2020 as ශ්‍රීලාල් අබේකෝන්) inhala, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. One of the most popular television actors in Sri Lanka, he is mo ...

as Appuwa

Production

Andrew Jayamanna was the first director of the program. By 2006, the show had seen six directors, including the Saman Fernando. Sudam Dayarathne and Janaka Mahalpath joined the directing crew after the death of Andrew Jayamanna. Sumith Dias directed the program from 1992 to 1996. Chandika Wijesena and Prabath Dushyantha are now the directors.

References

{{Reflist Sri Lankan drama television series Sri Lankan television shows 1980s Sri Lankan television series 1990s Sri Lankan television series 2000s Sri Lankan television series 2010s Sri Lankan television series 2020s Sri Lankan television series 1987 Sri Lankan television series debuts Independent Television Network original programming