The 37th‘Prime – Sarasaviya Film Awards’ organised by the ‘Sarasaviya’ cinema weekly of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (Lake House) will be held at the Nelum Pokuna premises in Colombo in the evening of September 9.
Lake House Chairman Gamini Warushamana, Sarasaviya Chief Editor Dr. Nuwan Nayanajith Kumara and main sponsors at launch
It was revealed at a media launch to announce this year’s event, at Cinnamon Grand Colombo, that this year’s edition titled ‘Film Awards Ceremony of the Youth – 2026’ will crown cinema stars of the country for the year 2025, with over 50 awards.
Among them are the Best Sinhala Film, Best Tamil Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Music Direction, Best Lyrics, Best Male Singer, Best Female Singer, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, Best Make-up, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, and the first Best Colour Grading Award.
The Most Popular Actor, Most Popular Actress, and the Most Popular Playback Song will be decided based on an SMS voting by the audience while the winner of the Popular Film Award will be decided based on box office performance.
Among the special awards are the Dr. Lester James Peris Memorial ‘Rana Thisara Lifetime Achievement Award’ given to four persons, and the Ranapala Bodhinagoda Memorial Cinema Literacy award.
The Chief Editor of Sarasaviya cinema weekly, Dr. Nuwan Nayanajith Kumara said 13 new young film directors made their debut in the industry in 2025, the highest in a year in the history and, this year’s edition of the event was themed accordingly.
The first Sarasaviya Awards Night took place on May 9, 1964. The 37th edition is backed by a distinguished lineup of corporate partners. Prime Group serves as the Main Sponsor, while Cargills Ceylon PLC is the Platinum Sponsor. Cargills Bank PLC has joined the event as the Official Banking Partner, with Ceylon Theatres Ceylon Theaters Pvt Ltd as the Cinema Partner. Cinnamon Grand Colombo is the hospitality sponsor. The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation is the television partner, while Textware (Pvt) Ltd is the SMS service provider. The event Coordination services are provided by Vega Studios. Group Chairman of Prime Group Premalal Brahmanage commended Lake House and Sarasaviya for conducting the film award for over six decades amid ups and downs.
He said Prime Group, a giant in the country’s real estate business, considers it a duty beyond business or promotion of the brand, to join hands with the country’s leading film award ceremony.
Representatives from other corporate sponsors also addressed the gathering.
Lake House Chairman Gamini Warushamana, members of the Board of Directors and the senior management of Lake House, Ruminda Randeniya – CEO Prime Group, Nalinda Heenatigala Director, Prime Group Senior Manager (Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations) of Cargills Ceylon PLC Chandana Kelegama, Chief Executive Officer of Cargills Bank PLC Senarath Bandara, General Manager (Operations) of Ceylon Theaters PVT Ltd Ganga Rathuwithana, Hotel Manager of Cinnamon Grand Colombo Rida Marikkar, and veteran and young cinema directors and stars including Jeewan Kumarathunga and Nadeeka Gunasekara were also present.
