චන්ද්රලේකා පෙරේරා
78 songs performed
Chandralekha Perera (චන්ද්රලේඛා පෙරේරා), sometimes romanized Chandraleka Perera, is a Sri Lankan singer and actress whose pop-leaning voice carried a string of duets and solo recordings through the 1980s and beyond. She is widely known both for her screen work and for love songs such as Manaloli Manamaliye and Asoka Mala Mamai (අශෝක මාලා මමයි).
She was born Suramya Ratnakumari Chandralekha Perera on 1 December 1961 in Polgahawela, in Sri Lanka’s North Western Province. She sang from childhood, taking part in inter-school competitions, and during her studies performed with a band called Spring Time in Kurunegala. Her entry into professional singing came through the National Youth Services Council, a common starting point for performers of her generation.
Perera was noticed by the film director and producer D. B. Nihalsinghe, who cast her in the television serial Rekha. The role made her a recognized face. In 1986 she was named best television actress for the serial Nadee Geethaya and best playback singer for the film Yali Hamuwennai, a rare double recognition that placed her in both the acting and music worlds at once.
Much of her best-loved catalogue sits in the duet form. She recorded a large body of work with the actor and singer Vijaya Kumaranatunga, and later with her husband, the singer Rookantha Goonatillake, whom she married in 1989. Their duets include Mata Mulu Lowama Obay, while her solo and lead recordings range across Neela Nuwan Yuga Kawiyak Wiya Obage, Nil Tharu Nethu Hinahe, and Dedunu Pata Samanalayo.
Chandralekha Perera’s recordings move between pop arrangements and more classical Sinhala song forms, and several of them, including Kiri Ammawaru and Oba Depa Dowa Bathiyen, remain in steady rotation among Sri Lankan listeners at home and across the diaspora. As a Chandraleka Perera title still surfaces on wedding playlists and request shows, her duet partnership with Rookantha Goonatillake remains one of the more familiar pairings in Sinhala popular music. She and Goonatillake have two daughters, Raini Charuka and Windy Goonatillake.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Chandralekha Perera.