Denavaka Hamine
Biography
Kalasuri Dona Meraya Denawaka was a Sri Lankan actress. "The grand old lady" was known for portraying elderly characters. Hamine was born 20 February 1906 in Imbulgoda, Gampaha. She was by profession a school teacher until a chance encounter with G. D. L. Perera when she accompanied a young actress to a theatrical audition, led to her winning the role of an elderly mother in Perera's play Kandulu. Due to her masterful performance in the role, Perera brought Hamine into his drama group Kala Pela; she would play in Kala Pela productions like Manamalayo, Sakkarawattang and Sama and was honored with a merit award at the 1964 Arts Council Drama Festival for her role in Totupola. Hamine's debut film role was in the film adaption of Sama by Perera reprising the role she had popularized in the play. In Sath Samudura she played the mother of two fishermen to much critical rave. She was presented a Best Character Actress Award for the role by a special government council. It was delivered on stage by the then Sri Lankan prime minister Dudley Senanayake. In the 1970s, Hamine had major roles in Tun Man Handiya, Desa Nisa Kolomba Sanniya and Matara Achchi.
Known For & Full Filmography16 Titles
Movie - 1984, 2h 15m • as Village Woman
After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees – and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Movie - 1976, 2h 15m • as Net trapped homeowner
Madol Duwa (Mangrove Island) is a 1976 Sri Lankan drama film directed by Lester James Peries and produced by Upasena Marasinghe. The film stars Ajith Jinadasa as Upali, a young rebellious youth who travels to a small island to get away from the restrictive society around him. The film is based on Martin Wickremasinghe's 1947 novel Madol Doova. It was a commercial success
Movie - 1967, 2h 15m • as Karolina, Gunadasa's Mother
Sath Samudura is a landmark Sri Lankan film directed by professor Siri Gunasinghe and released in 1967. This film was critically acclaimed and is considered a major work in Sri Lankan cinema. It depicts the plight of fishermen living in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka.
Movie - 1976, 2h 15m • as Andare's Elder Sister
Kolomba Sanniya (Colombo Mania) is a 1976 Sinhalese language comedy film directed by Manik Sandrasagara that follows the lives of middle and upper-class people in rural and urban Sri Lanka. The film stars Geetha Kumarasinghe, Joe Abeywickrema and Denewake Hamine are notable for containing the first depiction of best comedy in a Sinhala film.
Movie - 1994, 2h 15m • as Gunapala's Grandma
An illiterate and sexually frustrated young man finds himself attracted to a chic woman from the city who has come to his rural village as a school teacher.
Movie - 1980, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
A married man (Nissanka) and woman (Miranda) find their lives disrupted after their affair is exposed by the police. Leaving their respective families, the two decide to live together. Shortly afterwards, Miranda secretly goes back to see her former husband. As paranoia mounts, Nissanka disintegrates psychologically to point where reality and fantasy are blurred.
Movie - 1974, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Lasanda is the name of the girl played by the famous actress Nita Fernando. Her acting amplifies the moral qualities of her heroine – a proud woman, irreconcilable to everything that degrades human dignity. The world is divided into two clearly delineated camps. In one of them are the rich mine owners and their accomplices, in the other - the working class, the poor, forced to make ends meet with odd jobs. The first reign supreme, believing that they can buy off any crime with money, although they fear an organized uprising by workers. The second are almost powerless in the face of tyranny and violence; their existence, their future depend on the whim of their masters.
Movie - 1977, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Based on the character of the infamous bandit Marusira, Maruwa Samaga Wase is another movie that was directed by Titus Thotawatte. Marusira A.K.A Siripala is a criminal who escaped death three times but was finally put to rest, which actually caused a huge controversy in society.
Movie - 1975, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
A naive village girl’s romantic dreams are shattered when she is forced into an abusive marriage with a cruel aristocrat. Stripped of her innocence, she must find the strength to defy the patriarchal society that bounds her, transforming into a hardened, fiercely independent woman.
Movie - 1968, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Anura, a village youth manages to qualify for university where he discovers a whole new world which threatens his beliefs and values.
Movie - 1966, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
The story follows Bonny Mahaththaya (Gamini Fonseka), a wealthy and hedonistic landowner who lives a life of wine and pleasure. His world is challenged by his unrequited love for Kamala (Punya Heendeniya), who instead loves a humble worker named Sirisena (Joe Abeywickrama).
Movie - 1970, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Based on the famous novel Thun Man Handiya, this movie demonstrates a fraction of life of a youth who reflects back to his childhood and steps to a new era of life when he moves to the Governmental Art Academy.
Drama Series - 1987, 16 episodes • as Loku Hamine
Kopi Kade is a popular Sri Lankan comedy-drama television series broadcast on the Independent Television Network. More than 1300 episodes of the program have been produced as of 2012. It is telecast on Wednesdays and remains the most popular program at its time-slot according to Survey Research Lanka. But current it Broadcasting on Sunday.
Movie - 1993, 2h 15m • as Vani
When his father dies, Jeffrey is sent to live with his aunt Charlotte in Canada. Once there he leads his aunt and his friends in staging, a non-violent hunger strike to try to save his aunt's house from being demolished to make room for a ski resort.
Movie - 1998, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
This film indicated the formation of a cinematic language consisting of hyper-realistic images. The film won the award for Most Promising Director at the Critics' awards in 1994. It was also awarded Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay at the 1998 OCIC awards.
Movie - 1968, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Lalith is a chief Clarke of a Government Department. He falls in love with Nilanthi, a newly recruited typist. But Nilanthi is attracted to another handsome young Clarke in the same department named Sagara. Lalith detests this. He starts to suspect each and every act of Sagara and Nilanthi. ‘Dahasak Sithivili’ is based on Lalith’s efforts to prevent himself from getting carried away by these endless suspicions.