Gonakumbura Pangukarage Shalani Tharaka Wijayabandara ( sinhala: ශලනි තාරකා; born 15 November 1990), popularly known as Shalani Tharaka, is a Sri Lankan actress and model. One of the most popular television actresses in Sri Lanka, Tharaka holds the title for the Sri Lankan

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

'' Sirasa Kumariya'' which she won in 2007. Apart from acting, she is also a dancer, lyricist and author.

Early life

Tharaka was born on 15 November 1990 in

Balangoda Balangoda is a large town in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an urban council located away from Colombo and from Ratnapura on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the Sabaragamuw ...

. Her father is Susantha Wijayabandara and mothe
Suraji Fernando
is a beautician by profession. She had her primary education at St. Agnes Convent, Balangoda. After her primary education she moved to her mother's hometown

Negombo Negombo (, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in Western Province, from Colombo via Colombo - Katunayake Expressway. Negombo is one of the major commercial hubs in the country an ...

and had her secondary education there onwards at Newstead Girls College where 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 ...

and

Kandyan Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

dancing styles.

Career

In 2007, when she was seventeen years old, she won the beauty pageant ''Sirasa Kumariya'' organized by

Sirasa TV Sirasa TV is a digital, terrestrial television network in Sri Lanka. It is the sister channel of ' TV One' (Previously MTV Channel and MTV Sports) which was established in 1992. Sirasa TV was started in 1998 as a sister to its radio network Sir ...

which brought her into mainstream popularity. Her maiden acting came through the television serial ''Poojasanaya'' directed by Sherly P. Delankawala. Her co-star in Poojasanaya was

Suraj Mapa Mapa Mudiyanselage Suraj Laksiri (born on 2 January 1980 as සුරාජ් මාපා) inhala, popularly as Suraj Mapa, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema and television as well as a Teledrama Producer, model, dancer, and a choreographe ...

. Later she acted in many television serials in several genre such as ''Isuru Bawana'', ''Hansi'', ''Giridevi'', ''Api Api Wage (I & II)'', ''Ganga Addara'' and ''Sanda Sanda Wage'' which gained popularity. Apart from teledramas she has also contributed in the TV commercials for Hero Honda, Raino and Janet. She has also played parts in music videos such as ''Oya Dese'' by Prinyan, ''Mata Oya'' by D n S, ''Wasthuwe'' by Shafee ft. Delon. In 2012, Tharaka made her maiden cinema appearance in the movie ''Selvam''. She played the role of "Medhavi". Later she appeared in lead role in the horror film ''Spandana''. She also contested in the second season of ''

Sirasa Dancing Stars Sirasa Dancing Stars is a Sri Lankan reality dance show broadcast by Sirasa TV. It went on air on February 9, 2008. It won the award for the most popular program in Sri Lanka earlier that year. It's yet another creation of Mr. Susara Dinal, who a ...

'' as well as ''Hiru Super Dancer''. On 19 September 2020, she was awarded both Best teledrama actress and Most popular teledrama actress at 16th

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 ...

ceremony. It was the first time in 24 years where one actress won both awards at the same time. In 2021, she appeared in the Raffealla Fernando Celebrity Calendar along with many other Sri Lankan celebrities which is considered as one of the highest civilian honours awarded to an individual.

Selected television serials

Filmography

Awards

Sumathi Awards ''Sumathi Awards'' ( si, සුමති සම්මාන) is an award bestowed to distinguished individuals involved with Sri Lanka's television screen, each year by the Sumathi Group of Company, Sri Lanka in recognition of the contributions m ...

, - , , 2015 , , , Peoples' vote , , Most Popular Actress , , , - , , 2015 , , , ''Handapana Gala'' , , Best Upcoming Actress, , , - , , 2018 , , , Peoples' vote , , Most Popular Actress, ,

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 ...

, - , , 2015 , , , ''Punchi Walawwa'' , , Jury Award , , , - , , 2016 , , , Peoples' vote , , Most Popular Actress , , , - , , 2020 , , , Peoples' vote , , Most Popular Actress , , , - , , 2020 , , , ''Ado'' , ,

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

, , , - , , 2022 , , , Kiya Denna Adare Tharam , , Most Popular Actress , , , -

Derana Film Awards ''Derana Film Awards'' (Sinhala:දෙරණ සිනමා සම්මාන) is an award bestowed to distinguished individuals involved with the Sri Lanka's silver screen, each year by the TV Derana, Sri Lanka in recognition of the contributi ...

, - , , 2019 , , , Peoples' vote , , Lux Glamorous Star , ,

SIGNIS OCIC Awards

, - , , 2021 , , , ''Giridevi'' , , Best Actress , ,

References

External links

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ශලනි තාරකා මනාලියක් වෙයිශලනි ආගම මාරු කරයි?වැඩිපුර තියෙන්නේ හරසුන් නිර්මාණ – ශලනි තාරකාශලනි, මෙගා තහංචිය පැත්තකින් තියලාProstitutes became Actresses is the problemI can’t Live without Loveඅමතක නොවන සුබ පැතුමක්
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tharaka, Shalani 1990 births Living people Sri Lankan television actresses Sri Lankan film actresses Sri Lankan female models Sinhalese actresses People from Ratnapura District