Pothupitiya Kankanamge Pradeepa Nirmali Hemamali Dharmadasa, (born 26 January 1964 as ප්රදීපා ධර්මදාස
inhala, popularly as Pradeepa Dharmadasa, is a
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 Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
n musician, playback singer and former stage drama actress in Sri Lankan theatre and television.
Personal life
She was born on 26 January 1964 in Rawatawatta, Moratuwa as the second in a family of four children. Her father Pothupitiya Kankanamge Dharmadasa worked at the Agriculture and Govi Jana Seva Department. Her mother Meda Gamage Hema Dharmadasa was a housewife. She has one elder sister and two younger brothers. His closest brother died by drowning in the sea. She studied at
Princess of Wales' College, Moratuwa where she met her mentor
Somalatha Subasinghe. She studied dancing at Vajira-Chitrasena Academy, and later learned music at `Kala Bhoomi’, Nugegoda. After finishing A/Ls, she followed a drama course at Subasinghe’s 'Sri Lanka Youth Theatre Foundation'.
She completed a master's degree in sociology from the
University of Kelaniya
The University of Kelaniya (UoK; , ) is a public university in Sri Lanka. Just outside the municipal limits of Colombo, in the city of Kelaniya, the university has two major institutions and seven faculties.
History
The University of Kelaniy ...
. She also holds an Excellence in Music Scholarship from
Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University
Bhatkhande Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya (BSV), formerly Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University (2000-2022), Bhatkhande College of Hindustani Music (1966-2000) and Marris College of Music (1926-1966), is a State university (India), state uni ...
, India. After returning, she completed a Diploma in Writing and Mass Communication from the
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
The University of Sri Jayewardenepura (also known as Jayawardhanapura University or USJ; , ) is a public university in Sri Lanka. It is in Gangodawila, Nugegoda, near Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, the country's administrative capital. It was form ...
as well as a Diploma in English from the Kirkwood Institute of Education, USA.
Pradeepa is married to
Cabinet Minister
A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
Honorable
Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma who has been a parliamentarian. The couple has two sons – Mahima Induwara (born in 1995) and Kaushika Nalanda (born in 1996).
Mahima started education from Royal College and Kaushika from Ananda College. Later they both went to Lyceum International.
Career
In 1981, she acted in title role of "Sanda Kinduri" produced by Somalatha Subasinghe.
In 1983, Subasinghe started a drama school called the ''Lama Ha Yowun Ranga Peetaya'' and she joined with it. In 1984 Subasinghe made a new production of the play ''Mudu Puththu'' where Pardeepa acted as "Hinnihami" in it. During this period, she acted in many stage plays such as ''Suba Sarangatha'' by Athula Peiris and ''Sakvithi Nikmana'' by Salaman Fonseka.
In 1980s, Pradeepa started career as a professional actress with the stage play ''Sathyanganavi'' produced by Vijitha Gunaratne. In the play, she not only showcased her acting skills but also the singing skills she possessed by playing the role of "Shonte" in
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
's ''The Good Woman in Setsuan''. Therefore, its music director
Premasiri Khemadasa
Deshamanya Kala Keerthi Dr. Premasiri Khemadasa ( Sinhala: ආචාර්ය ප්රේමසිරි කේමදාස ) (25 January 1937 – 24 October 2008) also known as "Khemadasa Master" was a Sri Lankan music composer. Explorin ...
invited Pradeepa to join his choir. Later, she made her first song ''Duwillen Seduna Liye'' for the television serial ''
Weda Hamine
''Weda Hamine'' is a Sri Lankan television drama that originally aired on the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation in 1990. Directed by Jayantha Chandrasiri, the series marked his directorial debut in television. Filmed in 1988 and broadcast two year ...
'' in 1987.
In 1988, Kapila Kumara Kalinga created the stage play ''Nelum Pokuna'' which included lots of songs. So when he is looking for an actress who can sing songs, he invites Pradeepa. She acted and sang the songs in the play. Later she sang the theme song ''Rathurosa Malak Pipewi'' along with
Amarasiri Peiris for the single episode teledrama directed by Kalinga.
In the beginning of 1992, she was invited by cassette producer Ranjith Liyanage to make a cassette. She made the cassette "Duwillen Seduna Liye" with 12 songs, where six of them composed by Khemadasa and the other six by
Rohana Weerasinghe
Dr. Rohana Weerasinghe (born 18 February 1949) is a Sri Lankan musician, composer and singer.
Early life
Weerasinghe was born on 18 February 1949 in Algiriya, Matara in southern Sri Lanka. He was the youngest child to his parents Henry Weeras ...
. In the midst of state media censorship, Pradeepa was able to successfully present the cassette with the support of the "Alternative Media Circle".
However, six of those songs of the cassette was banned by
Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) (, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', , ''Ilangkai Oliparappuk Kūṭṭuttāpaṉam'') came into existence on 5 January 1967 when Radio Ceylon became a public corporation. Dudley Senanayak ...
due to contemporary social issues of various events that were talked about in the country at that time were sung.
The song ''Kolomthotin Naw Nagga'' spoke about the child trafficking that was prevalent in Sri Lanka at that time. Then the song ''Balana Avaraga Pipunu Iramala'' written against the American voice for Iranavila village. The song ''Madura Oya Pamula'' speaks about the incidents where farmers drank poison and could not pay their debts. The song ''Sebe Ugaththu'' was written about the loss of jobs for university students. But with that ban, the cassette sold well.
However, she continued to act in the stage plays such as lead role in ''Naga Gurula'' produced by K. B. Herath.
In 1993, she won the award for the Best Actress of the Year for her performance in the play ''Ukdandu Ginna'' produced by Nimal Ekanayake at the State Drama Festival.
She also played in the plays ''Muhunu Dekak'', ''Sakvithi Nikmana'' and as "Sinha Seevali" in critically acclaimed
Ediriweera Sarachchandra
Veditantirige Ediriweera Ranjitha Sarachchandra (born Veditantirige Eustace Reginold de Silva; 3 June 1914 – 16 August 1996), popularly known as Ediriweera Sarachchandra ), was a Sri Lankan playwright, novelist, poet, literary critic, essayist ...
's ''Sinhabahu'' and as "Chamari" in
R. R. Samarakoon's ''Duwili''.
However, Pradeepa selected her pathway from singing where she sang several popular songs including; ''Kolom Thotin Naw Nagga'', ''Supem Hangum'', ''Sandagiri Pawwa'', ''Vine Katina Un'', ''Hansa Geethaya'', ''Nadan Punchi Hiramane'', ''Neka Uyan Wathu'' and ''Ha Ha Balagenai''. Many of the songs sung by Prapeeda express the knowledge of life and social consciousness, as well as the concepts of love, romance, elegance as well as elegance and wonderfully expressed house concepts.
Her maiden television acting came through ''Samugenime Nawathena'' with the role "Veena". She also sung the theme song of the serial with Amarasiri Peiris. Then she played the role of a dumb girl "Kisa" in the teledrama ''Dhawala Rathriya'' directed by Suda Mahadivulwewa.
But she sang its background songs. Later she acted in
Somaratne Dissanayake
Somaratne Dissanayake is a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. He was the Chairman of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and the president of the Film Makers Guild of Sri Lanka (FMG). He is the winner of the most nu ...
's serial ''Avasanda'' as "Soma" and title role of "Yashodara" in Thistha Jayawardena's serial ''Yashodara''.
She last starred in the teledrama ''Pinmada Puthuni'' directed by
Malini Fonseka
Wanniarachchige Malini Senehelatha Fonseka, (; ; 30 April 1947 – 24 May 2025) was a Sri Lankan actress, theatre artist, director and politician. Often dubbed the "Queen of Sri Lankan Cinema", her career spanned seven decades. Fonseka made her ...
. Meanwhile, in 1997, he released a new collection of songs called 'Kandulu Thotupola'. Her third CD 'Sathyangana' was released in 2004 at the John de Silva Memorial Theater, Colombo. She selected to sing the songs of a new lyricist for her new CD 'Hendewata Kalin Enna' in 2012 where it was the first time that a new lyricist has put together as many as six songs at a time.
Pradeepa started playback singing for films with Christy Shelton's 1994 film ''Aragalaya''. Since then, she rendered her voice for many films including Mario Jayatunga's ''Nidi Yahana Kalabei'', ''Handana Kinkini'', ''Miriwadi Sagalak'', Saman Neelawathura's ''Savithrige Rathriya'', Christy Shelton's ''Thahanam Gaha'' and
Bennett Rathnayake
Bennett Rathnayake (; born 24 October), is a filmmaker in Sri Lankan cinema and a television director. He has produced several critically acclaimed award-winning films such as ''Aswesuma'', ''Sulanga'' and ''Ira Handa Yata''. He is also the form ...
's ''
Ira Handa Yata
''Ira Handa Yata (Under the Sun and Moon)'' () is a 2010 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, ...
''. In 1997, she won both the Sarasaviya and Presidential Awards for Best Film Backing Singer for the serial ''Savithriyage Rathriya''.
Then, Pradeepa was honored by the Colombo Tamil Association for her creative contribution to social harmony by singing the song ''Yal Devi'' at an awards ceremony organized to recognize great women on World Women's Day 2012. On 22 November 2017 her devoted fan Kasuni Nadeeka launched the book ''Gee Pradeepartha'' on Pradeepa's singing life and critical reviews of her songs. Gee Pradipartha (Pradeepa Dharmadasa Gee Ratnawali Rasavinisa) Book contains commentaries on 20 meaningful songs.
In 2018, she playback songs for the film ''Amawaka'' directed by Vijitha Gunaratne.
Albums
Labels
References
External links
ප්රදීපා ධර්මදාසට ගෞරව උපහාරයක්කොරෝනා කාලේ මෙහෙමයි හිටියේ රාලේපොපිමල් දිනයට 27 දෙනෙකු ගැයූ ගී තුනක්ලංකාවේ වේදිකා නාට්ය ක්ෂේත්රයේ අයිකන් 7ක්
අපි දෙන්නම, මුදල් පැත්ත ගැන පමණක් හිතපු දෙන්නෙක් නෙමෙයි
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharmadasa, Pradeepa
Living people
20th-century Sri Lankan women singers
Sinhalese singers
1963 births