Popular Awards are awards presented annually by the Youth Star Entertainment in Sri Lanka in recognition of individuals’ excellence in the field of cinema, television, social media, music, and media. The Popular Awards ceremony is considered to be one of the most prestigious television program events in Sri Lanka. The awards were first introduced in 2023.

History

The Popular awards ceremony began in 2023 with the leadership of Geethanjana de Costa. Awards were presented recognizing outstanding individuals across various fields to acknowledge and bring forward their value and efforts. Apart from De Costa,

Sunil Costa Sunil Costa ( Sinhala:සුනිල් කොස්තා; born 6 April 1959) is a Sri Lankan film director, screenplay writer and a film actor in the Sri Lankan cinema and theater. In 2012, he won the Best Director, Best Script Writer, Best P ...

, Nithya Devindi, Malkanthi Jayasinghe and Lasantha Gunawardena served as the executive committee for Popular Awards 2024. The award ceremony has been witnessed 2 times consecutively.

Awards Given

In 2023, the award ceremony commenced with awards under 38 categories, which were increased up to 69 categories with 83 awards in 2024. The awards are categorized into nine sections – Teledrama, Film, Television, Business, Social Media, YouTube, Radio, Music and Special category.

2024 Calin Popular Awards ceremony

Teledrama category

* Upcoming Tele Drama Actor - Sanjaya Muramudali * Upcoming Tele Drama Actress - Dasuni Senethma and Piyumali Edirisinghe * Most Popular Tele Drama Actor of the Youth - Randika Gunathilaka * Most Popular Tele Drama Actress of the Youth -

Michelle Dilhara Hatharasinghege Michelle Dilhara (Sinhala: මිෂෙල් දිල්හාරා; born 1 May 1996) is a Sri Lankan actress and environmentalist. One of the most popular television actresses in Sri Lanka, Dilhara is best known for playing ...

* Most popular Tele Drama Actor -

Sajitha Anthony Conganige Sajitha Anuththara Anthony () (born 11 November 1991), popularly known as Sajitha Anthony, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television. He started his career as a child actor in the film ''Sooriya Arana''. Sajitha became k ...

''(

Paata Kurullo ''Paata Kurullo'' () is a 2024 Sri Lankan comedy thriller teledrama broadcast on Hiru TV. The series is directed by Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan and written by Buddhika Semasinghe. It is produced by Chamara Samarawickrama and music direction is by ...

)'' * Most Popular Tele Drama Actress -

Dinakshie Priyasad Baminnahennadige Dinakshie Priyasad (born 18 March 1990) ( Sinhala: දිනක්ෂි ප්‍රියසාද්) is a Sri Lankan actress and television presenter. Priyasad made her acting debut at the age of two in the film ''Apaye Tha ...

* Most Popular Weekend Tele Drama - ''

Take Care ''Take Care'' is the second studio album by Canadian rapper Drake (musician), Drake. It was released on November 15, 2011, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. The album features guest appearances from the Weekn ...

'' (

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

) * Most popular teleserial - ''Paata Kurullo'' (

Hiru TV Hiru TV () is the most watched television channel in Sri Lanka, founded by Rayynor Silva (Chairman) and owned by Asia Broadcasting Corporation. Hiru TV is Sri Lanka's first and only digital television channel which has the DVB-T2 pictures and st ...

) * Most popular television channel - ITN

Film category

* Youth Film Actor -

Hemal Ranasinghe Hemal Sachindra Ranasinghe (; born 25 August 1984) is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema. He has consistently been recognized as one of Sri Lanka's most popular actors since the beginning of his career. His talent has earned him numerous accolades, ...

* Youth Film Actress - Dinakshie Priyasad * Most popular film actor - Akhila Dhanuddara * Film actress -

Chulakshi Ranathunga Chulakshi Saubhagya Ranathunga () (born 13 February 1989) is a Sri Lankan actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was the winner of the Miss Sri Lanka title in 2014. She represented Sri Lanka in the Miss World 2014 Miss World 2 ...

* Youth popular film - '' Visal Adare'' * Most popular Sinhala movie - ''

Sinhabahu Sinhabahu (Sinha = Lion, Bahu = Arm) is a legendary king of ancient India, mentioned in Sri Lankan texts. He was father of Vijaya of Sri Lanka and king of Sinhapura. He was the son of Suppadevi, a Vanga Kingdom princess. According to the M ...

Television Category

* Most popular political program - Salakuna (Hiru TV) * Most popular television Program - Hiru star (Hiru TV) * Most popular Male News Anchor - Saranga Pathirana * Most popular Female news anchor - Ishara Samarasinghe * Most popular Male Program Presenter - Peshala Manoj * Most popular Female program Presenter - Thilini Poornima * Most popular Television news channel - Hiru TV * Most popular upcoming Television channel - Supreme TV * Most popular Television channel - Hiru TV

Radio category

* Most popular radio program - DJ Ara & Pasbara (

Hiru FM Hiru FM is a Sinhala radio station in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Ba ...

) * Most popular radio drama - Kana madiri rathriya (

Shree FM Sri FM (ශ්‍රී FM) is the first privately owned radio station in Sri Lanka. This radio is broadcast island wide in Sri Lanka on the frequencies 93.2FM, 95.8FM, 98.8FM, 99.0FM and 99.3FM. Shree FM, Ran FM and E FM's Executive Director, i ...

) * Most popular radio news presenter Male - Asanka Shrimal. (Shree FM) * Most popular radio news presenter Female - Nimasha Amararathna (Hiru FM) * Most popular radio program presenter Male - Gayan Gamlath * Most popular radio program presenter Female - Bhashini Samarasinghe * Most popular radio news channel - Hiru TV * Most popular upcoming radio channel -

Shaa FM Shaa FM () is a Sinhala radio channel station in Sri Lanka owned by ABC Radio Networks. It covers the whole island. This radio channel is the first-ever radio channel made for Sri Lankan youth society. Shaa Fm was started in 2002, Sri Lanka. ...

* Most popular radio channel - Hiru FM

Business category

* Popular event photography - Naveen Gunasekara * Popular wedding photographer - Dhanuka Kumarasinghe Dark Room * Most popular upcoming beautician - Udara Malshan * Popular upcoming saloon - Hiruni & Saree salon * Most popular Male Beautician - Chandimal Jayasinghe * Most popular Female Beautician - Dilukshi Narangoda * Most Popular saloon - Salon PR * Popular entrepreneur male - Viraj Wichramanaya * Popular entrepreneur Female - Dr. Pramila Ranasingha

Social Media Category

* TikTok Account - Sachini Chathurangi * Instagram Account - Piumi Hansamali * Facebook Profile - Piumi Hansamali * Facebook page - Suraveera Kello * Social media icon - Wild Cook Book

YouTube category

* Upcoming Comedy channel - Siril Ayya * Popular comedy channel - Vini Production * Popular cookery channel - The Rustic Kitchen * Travel channel - Travel with Wife * Educational channel - WOW English academy * Personal & Vlog Channel - Point of Pavithra * YouTube Program presenter - Chamuditha Samarawickrama * Most popular YouTube channel - Shanudrie

Special category

* Dancer male - Basker Prakash * Dancer female - Damithri Subasingha * Dancing group - Chandana Wickramasingha & the dancers guild Sri Lanka * Event Compere male- Moksha Prasad * Event Compere female - Ashinsani Weerasinghe * Newspaper -

Lankadeepa Lankadeepa () is a daily Sri Lankan Sinhala language newspaper which is owned by Wijeya Newspapers. They were established in 1991. The chairman of the organisation is Ranjith Wijewardene, the son of D. R. Wijewardena. The newspaper's coverage in ...

* Youth Teacher - Tissa Jananayaka * Most popular teacher male - Akila Vimanga * Most popular teacher female - Hayeshika Fernando

Music category

* Youth Singer male- Shan Putha * Youth Singer female - Hana Shafa * Music Band - Avatar * Most popular Singer (male) - Chamara Weerasinghe * Most popular singer (female) - Sashika Nisansala * Youth Song - ''Seethala Haduwakin'' (Yasith Kelambiarachchi) * Youth Music Video - ''Arabi Kumari'' (Sadun Perera) * Most popular song - ''Nopathuwa Mohothaka'' (Milinda Sadaruwan) * Most popular music video - ''Labandi Komaliya'' (

Bathiya and Santhush Bathiya & Santhush (), also known as BnS, are a Sri Lankan pop duo consisting of Bathiya Jayakody (born on December 22, 1976) and Santhush Weeraman (born on September 5, 1977), who met while at the "Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music and" i ...

)

Award Ceremonies

Popular Awards 2023

The first British Way Popular Awards ceremony was celebrated on 13 October 2023 at

Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre The Nelum Pokuna Theatre (, ''nelum pokuna rangahala''; often known as Nelum Pokuna; previously the National Performing Arts Theatre, prior to naming at the opening ceremony after which the President Mahinda Rajapaksa named it after himself) is a ...

, where awards for 38 categories were presented. In the film category, award for the most popular film actress was won by

Udari Warnakulasooriya Udari Chamika Warnakulasooriya (born 22 March 1988) is a Sri Lankan actress who appears in Sri Lankan films and television. She is best known for the roles in TV serials such as '' Bonda Meedum'' and ''Pini''. Early life Udari was born on 22 M ...

and the most popular film actor was won by

Ranjan Ramanayake Sadda Vidda Rajapakse Palanga Pathira Ambakumarage Ranjan Leo Sylvester Alfonso (born 11 March 1963) (රන්ජන් රාමනායක), popularly known as Ranjan Ramanayake, is a Sri Lankan actor, film director, singer, script writer ...

. Sashika Nisansala won the award for the most popular singer under music category. In the teledrama category, award for the most popular teledrama actor was won by

Saranga Disasekara Saranga Disasekara () (born 31 January 1983) is a Sri Lankan actor, singer, model and a host by profession. Saranga was awarded the most popular television actor in Sri Lanka award at Sumathi Awards, Raigam Tele'es and SLIM-Nielsen Peoples Awar ...

and the most popular teledrama actress was won by Tharindi Fernando.

Popular Awards 2024

The second Calin Popular Awards ceremony was celebrated in 2024 at the Waters Edge, where 83 awards were given at the ceremony under nine main categories. In the film category, award for the most popular film actress was won by

and the most popular film actor was won by Akhila Dhanuddara. In the teledrama category, award for the most popular teledrama actor was won by

and the most popular teledrama actress was won by

. Award for the Most Popular Youth Tele Drama Actress was won by

and the Most Popular Youth Tele Drama Actor was won by Randika Gunathilaka.

References

{{Reflist Award ceremonies