Sri Lankan actor Malini Fonseka dies -OxBig News Network

Sri Lankan movie actor and former member of Sri Lankan Parliament, Malini Snehelatha Fonseka. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Renowned Sri Lankan actor Malini Fonseka — who performed the feminine lead within the Tamil movie ‘Pilot Premnath’ [1978] starring Sivaji Ganesan — handed away in Colombo on Saturday (May 24, 2025). She was 78.  

Having begun her performing profession within the early Sixties in Sinhala theatre, Ms. Fonseka went on to turn into a sought-after artiste and movie star, successful a number of awards.

She turned acquainted to Indian audiences along with her position in ‘Pilot Premnath’, a joint Indo-Sri Lankan manufacturing directed by A.C. Trilokachander, which was filmed throughout many scenic areas on the island. In a 2023 piece on actor Sivaji Ganesan, senior journalist D.B.S. Jeyaraj pointed to the full of life track ‘Udarata Menike’ within the movie, sung by L.R. Easwari and A.E. Manoharan, based mostly on Sri Lanka’s in style musical type ‘Baila’. The movie was a success in each nations.

Ms. Fonseka was additionally a Member of Parliament representing President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s alliance from 2010 to 2015, via the ‘National List’, which allots seats to political events based mostly on their share of votes as per Sri Lanka’s proportional illustration system. She remained a staunch supporter of Mr. Rajapaksa.

Years after the top of the civil conflict, Ms. Fonseka, together with different prime Sri Lankan actors, invited their counterparts in Tamil Nadu to go to Sri Lanka and assess the post-war scenario, when the South Indian Artistes Association noticed a quick in help of the Sri Lankan Tamil trigger.

“The Sri Lankan film industry has borrowed many ideas, techniques and technicians from Tamil Nadu. The two film industries have had a very friendly and positive relationship from the 1950s onwards. We want that to continue,” Ms. Fonseka informed The Hindu in 2013. “It was a delight working with Sivaji Ganesan,” she mentioned.

In 2019, Ms. Fonseka inaugurated the Women’s International Film Fest organised by Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA) at St. Teresa’s College in Kochi, and called for greater collaboration between technicians from India and Sri Lanka.

Ms. Fonseka’s ultimate rites can be held with state honours on Monday, authorities introduced.