Menaka Rajapakse
Menake Rajapakse | |
---|---|
Born | Walimuni Mudiyanselage Menake Hemaal Rajapakse 24 May 1983 Kelaniya, Sri Lanka |
Alma mater | St Peter's College, Colombo |
Occupation(s) | Actor, model |
Years active | 2005 - present |
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
Spouse(s) | Virangi Siriwardena (2010-2013) Nehara Peiris (2014-present) |
Awards | Most Popular teledrama actor 2009, 2010, 2011 Peoples Youth Actor of the Year 2012 |
Walimuni Mudiyanselage Menake Hemaal Rajapakse (මේනක රාජපක්ශ: born 24 May 1983), popularly as Menaka Rajapaksa, is a Sri Lankan teledrama and film actor as well as a model. He was first cast in 2005 as one of the main actors, but the role changed into a lead, in the teledrama Sanda Mudunata, which was telecast on Swarnavahini in 2005.
He had acted in more than 30 teledramas and 3 films as of 2015.[1]
Early life
[edit]Menake is the second child of his family. His father Ivan Rajapakse was an executive who worked in the hotel industry and died in 2004. His mother Zareena Allang, is a Malay and was a teacher at Wycherly International School.[citation needed] He is a past pupil of St. Peter's College, Colombo.[citation needed]
Career
[edit]He was first sighted by a teledrama producer Samy Pavel during a SAAF Games in 2005. He is a competitive swimmer and broke a national level record.[2]
In 2005, Menaka was selected for a main role in the teledrama Sanda Mudunata directed by Samy Pavel.[3]
He became popular in 2008, in the teledrama Muthu Kirilli and then acted in many television serials such as Ran Dam Wal,[4] Monara Kadadasi and Adare Ahasa Tharam.[5] His first film was Sinhawalokanaya, a sport-drama film. He also acted in the crime thriller film Train to Kandy.[6]
Selected television serials
[edit]- Adare Ahasa Tharam
- Ahas Maliga
- Amanda
- Ammawarune
- Ayemath Adaren[7]
- Bharyawo[8]
- Divyadari
- Isira Bhawana
- Jeewa Chakra [9]
- Kumee
- Monara Kadadasi
- Muthu Kirilli
- Piyasa
- Queen
- Ralla Veralata Adarei
- Ran Dam Wal
- Sanda Mudunata
- Sihina Piyapath
- Situ Medura [10]
- Lanvee
Personal life
[edit]Menaka married Virangi Siriwardena in 2010. They divorced in 2013.[11] He is married to fellow actress Nehara Peiris in 2014. Nehara and Menaka acted in lead roles on many occasions. They first met in Muthu Kirilli, and followed in Amanda, Bharyawo, Ammawarune,[12] Situ Medura and others. The couple has two children.
Filmography
[edit]Year | Film | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Sinhawalokanaya | Dhanuka Wickramasinghe | [13] |
2021 | Apata Sadunu Ape Lokaya | [14] | |
2024 | Pirimi Adarayak | [15] |
References
[edit]- ^ "Sri Lankan Actors". Films.lk. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ^ "Menaka Rajapaksha - මේනක රාජපක්ෂ". Pahansara blog. Retrieved 11 March 2017.[unreliable source?]
- ^ "Story of 'Sanda Mudunata'". Sunday Times. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ "රන් දම්වැල් ස්වාධීන රූපවාහිනියේ". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ^ "Muthu and Menaka as lovers in Adare Ahasa Tharam". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ "Thrillers and chillers!". Daily News. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- ^ "Ayemath Adaren back". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ^ ""Bharyavo" now on Sirasa". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ^ "'Jeewa Chakra' brings world-renowned literature on miniscreen". Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- ^ "'Situ Medura' conflicts of crumbling class". Retrieved 31 December 2019.
- ^ "He cares me always". Sarasviya. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "On location of Ammawarune". Sarasviya. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "Is Sinhawalokanaya a Bollywood copy?". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ "Apata Sadunu Ape Lokaya". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "ගැහැනු හැමදාම දැනෙන්න හෙව්වේ පිරිමි ආදරයක්". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
External links
[edit]- "Menaka Rajapaksa Separated | Gossip Lanka News". gossiplankanews.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- Nehara & Menaka in USA for “Adaraneeya Niagara”
- නමක් අමතක වුණා නම් සොරි අපි රට හැර ගියා...
- ලක්ෂපතියේ ලක්ෂ පහ දිනූ මේනක සරසවියට හෙළි කළ රහස
- මේනක - නෙහාරා සමඟ සෘජු කතාබහක්
- මේනක, නෙහාරාට ප්රශ්නාවලියක්
- මේනක රාජපක්ෂ ගැන අම්මා සරීනා ගේ මතකය
- ඉක්මනින් මවක්වෙන්න ආසයි - Nehara Pieris