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 and retired politician who appeared in a number of Sinhala language films. He is a former Member of the Parliament. He served as the State Minister of Highways and Road Development from 2018 to 2019. He served as the Deputy Minister of Social Services, Welfare and Livestock Development Under Good Governance in 2015 and Deputy Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare from 2015 to 2018. Ramanayake won the Sarasaviya Best Actor Award in 2006 and won the Sarasaviya Most Popular Actor Award four times. He has appeared in over 75 Sinhalese films in genres ranging from romance to action and comedies, starting his career appearing in theatre, stage and several television series.

Personal life

Ramanayake was born on 11 March 1963 in Negombo, Sri Lanka. He is the youngest in the family of two children, son of Simon Alfonso, District Inspector at Sri Lanka Railways Department. He added 'Ramanayake' to his name as a reciprocation to filmmaker Somaratne Ramanayake, who helped him in establishing his film career as a lead actor. In August 2019, he appeared in GCE A/L exam again after 1982 to pursue his later career as lawyer. On 27 December 2019, he went viral in the social media as he publicised his A/L results (2S & 1F). Subsequently, he also qualified to study law after obtaining A pass for General English, S passes for Political Science and Communication media studies despite failing in Christianity subject.

Cinema career

Ramanayake's first leading role was in the commercial film Jaya Kothenada but his first film was Christhu Charithaya by Dr. Sunil Ariyaratne, which was in a crowded scene and maintained his status as a commercial film star through the 1990s. Ramanayake has occasionally branched out into more serious roles such as in Lester James Peries' Awaragira but continues to be known for his commercial roles. In 1998, he won the Sarasaviya Award for the Best Upcoming Actor for the film Hima Gira. He continued to be the Popular Actor in Sarasaviya Festival since 2002 to 2016, with a record 14 times. Recently, he has taken more control over his commercial film roles working as a director and screenwriter on the popular Parliament Jokes, One Shot and Leader, breaking box office records with these films and becoming one of the most successful leading actors and directors of Sinhala cinema. Bandu Samarasinghe and Tennyson Cooray are frequent co-stars of Ramanayake. He has sung in several films including Jaya Kothenada, Naralowa Holman, Love in Bangkok and others. His song "Ran Samanala Joduwa Wage" was a well-received among other songs. Ramanayake has acted in a few television serials.

Television serials

Politics

Ramanayake was initially the electoral organiser of Katana in the Gampaha Electoral District before becoming the electoral organiser in Balangoda. In 2008, Ramanayake contested for the position of Chief Minister of the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council and became leader of the opposition of the council. In 2010, he was elected to the district parliament in Ratnapura from the United National party (UNP) and was one of the most outspoken members of the parliament, working as a major opposition activist against the then-incumbent United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government. Ramanayake was later appointed as the UNP organiser of Divulapitiya in Gampaha. Ramanayake received highest number of preferential votes for the UNP in the Gampaha district during the 2015 parliamentary elections, receiving a total of 216,463 votes. He was reelected in 2020.

Controversies

Arrest

A school teacher from Kandy accused Ramanayake of having swindled Rs. 1 million promising to marry her. Based on a complaint by the woman who accused, the Criminal Investigation Department arrested Ramanayake in 2010. On 4 January 2020, he was arrested for possession of a license-expired firearm and several adult content DVDs. He was released on bail on 5 January 2020 following the verdict from Magistrate court but was also banned from travelling overseas.

Alleged threat to talk show host

In 2010, it was alleged that Ramanayake verbally threatened Derana TV talk show host Dilka Samanmali over a segment of the Derana 360 talk show. Ramanayake allegedly called Samanmali's parents over the phone and accused her of causing disrepute to him during the programm. He had also allegedly warned the parents that harm may befall their daughter. Ramanayake denied the allegation, stating that he simply gave Dilka's father was a courtesy call. Ramanayake confirmed that he did call Dilka Samanmali's father and complained that his daughter held biased viewpoints which she expressed during her show.

Recordings leak

Ramanayake's telephone conversations with former CID director Shani Abeysekara and other high-profile figures including judges were leaked in the media after the police took custody of them. Several other telephone conversations were leaked by the police to the public as well and the recordings suggested that Ramanayake used the law in unlawful manner to benefit his government.

Contempt of Court

On 12 January 2021, Ramanayake was sentenced to 4 years of rigorous imprisonment on the basis of contempt of court regarding his comments on the corruption of the judiciary. As a result, Ramanayake lost his seat in parliament on 7 April 2021. On 26 August 2022, Ramanayake was granted a conditional presidential pardon by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Filmography

Awards

Ramanayake has won the Sarasaviya Most Popular Actor Award 4 times.