Sarasaviya Most Popular Actor Award

The Sarasaviya Most Popular Actor Award is presented annually by the weekly Sarasaviya newspaper in collaboration with the

Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), also known as Lake House. It publishes three daily, three weekend, five weekly, two monthly and three annual publications in Sinhala, English and Tamil. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited is ...

at the Sarasaviya Awards Festival. This award is decided solely on popular vote and is chosen based on the verdict given by the readers of the weekly Sarasaviya. Although the Sarasaviya Awards Ceremony began in 1964, this award was introduced two years later, in 1966.

Gamini Fonseka Kala Keerthi Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka () (21 March 1936 - 30 September 2004 as ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා), was a Sri Lankan film actor, film director and politician. Often considered as the Greatest Actor in the Sinhal ...

was chosen as the most popular actor, that year. During the two decades from 1962 to 1982

managed to retain this title marking the period from Ranmuthuduwa in 1962 to Sakvithi Suvaya in 1982 most appropriately as the Gamini Fonseka era. In the aftermath of 1983 for full five years continuously, the actor-turned politician, the late

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

held the position of the most popular actor which devolved on Sanath Gunatilake,

Jeevan Kumaratunga Jeewan Kumaranatunga (born 7 November 1958: si, ජීවන් කුමාරතුංග), is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television, who later became a politician, a former member of the parliament and a former cabinet ministe ...

, and

Ranjan Ramanayake Sadda Vidda Rajapakse Palanga Pathira Ambakumarage Ranjan Leo Sylvester Alphonsu (born 11 March 1963) (රන්ජන් රාමනායක), popularly known as Ranjan Ramanayake, is a former Sri Lankan politician, actor, film director, si ...

successively after his demise. Following is a list of the winners of this prestigious title since 1966. {{Sarasaviya Awards Popular Actor Awards established in 1966