Nuwandhika Senarathne (born 23 June 1993) is a

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 ...

n singer and television personality who is most known as a

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 ...

, as well as a performer of

Soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

and

Ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s. She rose to fame as the 1st runner-up of the reality TV show

Derana Dream Star ''Derana Dream Star'' is a Sri Lankan reality television series by television channel TV Derana. Dream Star first season was started in 2008 as the first season of Derana Dream Star. By 2021 TV Derana has presented over 10 seasons of Dream Star ...

Season IX. Nuwandhika has been praised for her "amazing vocal abilities and charisma", and hailed for her stellar vocal poise. She earned her first award nomination for the Best Teledrama Singer - Female at the 2019-20

Raigam Tele'es ''Raigam Tele'es'' ( si, රයිගම් ටෙලි සම්මාන) is an award bestowed to distinguished individuals involved with the Sri Lanka's television screen, each year by the Kingdom of Raigam, Sri Lanka in recognition of the var ...

Awards, for singing the theme song of ''Asanwara Wessak'' which aired on

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...

Early life

Nuwandhika Senarathne was born on 23 June 1993 in

Narammala Narammala(නාරම්මල) is a town in Kurunegala district, northwestern province, Sri Lanka. It is connected to Sri Lankan transport network by Kurunegala-Colombo 5 road and Kurunegala-Negombo 34 road. Narammala is 74 km (45.98 Mil ...

. She is the only child of Sunil Senarathne and Kusum Herath. She grew up in

, a small town near

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 ...

. She completed her primary education at Mayurapada Primary school, Narammala. Then she attended

Mayurapada Central College The Mayurapada Central College is a college in Dambadeniya electorate of Kurunegala district in north western Province of Sri Lanka.It is a famous school. Mayurapada Central College was started in 1944 as one of the Central Colleges that were crea ...

to complete her secondary education. She completed her Visharad Diploma in 2011 before entering the university for higher education. She studied

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

music at the

University of the Visual and Performing Arts University of the Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA) ( si, සෞන්දර්ය හා කලා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, கட்புல, அரங்கேற்றக் கலைகள் பல்கலைக ...

and completed her university degree (Bachelor of Performing Arts

Honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...

specialised in Western Music) in 2019 with a Second Class Upper division. She is an A-Grade singer at

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සංස්ථාව, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', ta, இலங்கை ஒலிபரப்புக் க� ...

. Nuwandhika is currently studying for Master of Philosophy (MPhil.) Degree in Music from the

University of Kelaniya Pannaya Parisujjhati , mottoeng = Self-purification is by insight , established = 1875 Vidyalankara Pirivena1959 Vidyalankara University , type = Public , endowment = , adminis ...

Career

Nuwandhika started to learn music formally when she was ten years old. She entered into Saundarya Abhimani competition(division of GHAZAL) in 2019 and won the first place and received grand prize of a full sponsorship to represent her university in the South Asian Inter-university Music Festival in India. In 2020, she competed in the TV reality show

season IX and won the second place in the competition. In October 2020, she voiced the theme song “Obata Lanvee” with Raween Kanishka for

FM Derana FM Derana is Free-to-air Sinhala radio channel in Sri Lanka. Established in March 2009, FM Derana broadcasts 24 hours a day and it covers over 95% of the Island. Designed to appeal to a broad cross-section of listeners, FM Derana is leveraged on ...

“Apoorva” radio drama. She was pushed more into the public sphere after she sang the theme song ''Sihinayak Mewna'' in March, 2021, for the Iskole teledrama, which was broadcast on

TV Derana Derana TV is a Sri Lankan private entertainment terrestrial television channel broadcasting in Sri Lanka. Launched on 11 October 2005, it is one of the most popular television networks in the country. Its main transmission tower is on the Kikil ...

. Following this surge in fame, in August 2021, she voiced the theme song “Malen Upan Samanali” with Raween Kanishka for

Deweni Inima ''Deweni Inima'' ( si, දෙවෙනි ඉනිම) is a 2017 Sinhalese Sri Lankan television prime-time soap opera which premiered on 6 February 2017 on TV Derana. The series is directed by Saranga Mendis, produced by Chamika Mendis and wr ...

tele drama, which has reached over 15 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

as of April 2022. Nuwandhika initiated her film playback singing career in January 2021, when she voiced a duet with Supun Perera for the ''Sada Diya Salu'' movie directed by

Channa Perera Deepanath Channa Perera (born 16 August 1965 as චන්න පෙරේරා inhala, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema and television as well as a filmmaker and screenplay writer. Personal life Channa Perera was born on 16 August 1965 as the ...

. In the same year, she sang the song ''Heeneka Paya'' for the film ''

Kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

''. In addition to being a singer, she has hosted a TV program in

. Nuwandhika has taken part in the popular chat TV shows ''Maathra'' in Swarnawahini, and ''Sihinayaki Re'' in

Rupavahini The Sri Lanka Rūpavāhinī Corporation ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රූපවාහිනී සංස්ථාව; ta, இலங்கை ரூபவாகினி கூட்டுத்தாபனம்), also known as Jathika R ...

, on several occasions. Furthermore, she is a

brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person engaged by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embod ...

for

SLTMobitel SLT-MOBITEL (formerly known as Sri Lanka Telecom, si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ටෙලිකොම්, Śrī Laṃkā Ṭelikom, ta, ஸ்ரீலங்கா டெலிகொம்) is the national telecommunications services provide ...

. In December 2021, Nuwandhika toured Dubai with veteran musician Keerthi Pasqual for a musical evening at the Radisson Blu Deira Creek Hotel. Moreover, in May 2022, she toured Australia as a part of the ''Derana Stars Concert 2022'' organised by

, featuring fellow contemporary singers Falan Andrea, Dulanga Sampath, Raween Kanishka, Ravi Royster, and veteran musicians

Nadeeka Guruge Nadeeka Guruge ( si, නදීක ගුරුගේ) is one of the most influential composers in Sri Lankan music. Biography "I grew up with the guitar and the guitar speaks at this concert" says Nadeeka on his concerts titled ''Nostal Guitar ...

and Keerthi Pasqual. Nuwandhika was set to tour Canada in June 2022 for the ''Dream Voices Canada Tour 2022'' with fellow artists Falan Andrea and Suneera Sumanga; however, the tour got postponed owing to unavoidable circumstances, with the new dates yet to be announced.

Personal Life

Nuwandhika married software engineer Jayanga Kaushalya on the 27th of January, 2023.

Tours

Milestones

* "A" grade award granted by

. * Won first place from All Island CALYPSO competition, 2011. * Won first place from Saundarya Abhimani competition, division of GHAZAL, 2019. * Performed on 12th South Asian Inter-university Music Festival(SAUFEST) held at

Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University is an institution of higher education located in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. It is one of the largest and oldest institutions of higher education in Chhattisgarh. It is a state university founded in 1964 by th ...

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

(INDIA), 2019. * Graduated(BPA(Hons.) specialized in

music) from

with a second class upper division, 2019.

Awards

Raigam Tele’es

, - , , 2021 , , , Mala Hiru Basa Yana - ''Asanwara Wessak -

'' , , Raigam Tele'es Best Teledrama Singer(Female), ,

Achievements

Playback singing

Film songs

Teledrama songs

Radio drama songs

Discography

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Senarathna, Nuwandika 1993 births Living people 21st-century Sri Lankan women singers Sinhalese singers English-language singers Bengali singers Tamil singers Sri Lankan playback singers Sri Lankan singer-songwriters Sri Lankan YouTubers