Rita Irene Koys (July 1, 1929 – May 11, 2009), better known as Shanthi Lekha, was 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 Film actress. She played the role of mother in more films than any other actress in Sinhala cinema.

Personal life

Lekha was born in

Kalutara Kalutara ( si, කළුතර, ta, களுத்துறை) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south o ...

on July 1, 1929. She received her stage name from her first husband Shanthi Viraj. They had first met while she was attending Holy Family Convent in Kalutara. She died in France May 11, 2009.Renowned Sri Lankan actress Shanthi Lekha passes away
''ColomboPage'' Retrieved on 2009-05-12

Career

She starred in composer D. T. Fernando's play ''Shantha Prabha'' (1942). She subsequently made a mark as a dancer in plays starring

Dommie Jayawardena Dommie Jayawardena, (25 June 1927 – 28 December 1979 as ඩොමී ජයවර්ධන in Sinhala) was a Sri Lankan actor and singer. He achieved fame playing villainous roles including Bollywood film ''Praan''. Personal life Dommie ...

and Nona Subeda. With Jayawardena, Lekha had her first film role in '' Sujatha'' (1953). Wearing a bathing suit, she danced along with Jayawardena to the song "Pem Rella Nagi." The role came with a payment of Rs. 500 and a contract prohibiting her from doing films for other production companies. The producer

K. Gunaratnam Kanagasabai Gunaratnam (20 July 1917 – 27 August 1989; ta, கனகசபை குணரத்தினம்; si, කනකසබේ ගුණරත්නම්), popularly known as K. Gunaratnam was a prolific film producer in Sri L ...

would subsequently offer her roles in ''Warada Kageda'', ''Radala Piliruwa'' and ''Dosthara''. Lekha first played a mother in ''

Sandesaya ''Sandesaya'' (Sinhalese language word meaning ''The Message'') is a 1960 film. The film based on the war between the Sinhalese people and the Portuguese invaders in Sri Lanka. It was directed by Sri Lankan film director Lester James Peries. It w ...

'' (1960). She would play this role in over 350 films. Lekha won Best Supporting Actress Awards at the Sarasaviya Film Festival for Gamini Fonseka's ''Parasathu Mal'' (1968) and Mudalinayaka Somaratne's ''Binaramali'' (1969). She also won Presidential Awards for ''Mayurige Kathawa'' and ''Ridi Nimnaya''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lekha, Shanthi Sri Lankan film actresses 1929 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan actresses