Halaperuma Arachchige Dharmapriya Dias (Sinhala: ධර්මප්රිය ඩයස්) is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television.[2] And a professional dubbing artist since 1995. Dias has titles such as playwright, actor, set designer, choreographer, teacher of art and has a master's degree in theatre and drama.[3] He is the performing arts and sculpture art teacher in Shasthrananda Vidyalaya, Dehiwela.[4]
Personal life
Dharmapriya has one brother and three sisters. He studied at Sir Jhon Kothalawala College from grade 1 to O-Levels. He completed his education from Piliyandala Central College, where he started drama under Premakumara Karunaratne.[5] He is married to Anoja Milanthi and the couple has two sons - Swarna Rawana and Prawara Bhashana.[4]
Theatre career
Just after advanced level, he started to act in stage dramas. He acted in a stage play together with his fellow school leavers and the drama was selected for the final stage of State Drama Festival as well. His talents were polished under the direction of Sri Lanka's renowned artists such as Bandula Vithanage, K. B. Herath, Jayalath Manoratne, Rajitha Dissanayake, Thumindu Dodantenna and Chamika Hathlawaththa.[5]
His maiden stage drama direction came through Saadaya Marai Salli Hamarai. The drama reached a box office success within two years having run more than 200 shows. The drama also won several awards at the State Drama Festival, 2015 for the categories of best actor, actress, and state manager. The final show before the break was staged on 20 November 2016.[6] The drama won the awards for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Stage management at the 2015 Sri Lankan State Drama Festival.[7] He won the best Set Designer Award at the state drama festival for Daasa Mallige Bangalawa co-directed by Ruwan Malith Peris, and Kalana Gunasekara. He is also the set designer of his own productions such as: Gahanu Vada Arabathi aka Lysistrata, Sadaya Marai Salli Hamarai, Mama Nevei Vena Kenek, Julius Ceaser, as well as Jayalath Manoratne's Lokaya Thani Yayak, and Rajitha Dissanayake's plays Siriwardena Pawula, Sihina Horu Aran, Bakamuna Veedi Basi.[8]
Chakrayudham (Hithata wedunu misayila 2 by Sachithra Rahubadda)
Television career
With award-winning performances in stage dramas, Dias was able to move into the television drama career with some popular serials directed by Saranga Mendis, Sudatha Rohana, Janaka Siriwardena, and Dee Gee Somapala.[5]
Dias started his film career with Walapatala back in 2008, directed by Vijitha Gunarathna with a minor role.[42] He played minor roles in Vijitha Gunaratne's Wala Patala and two other films Bora Diya Pokuna and Nahi Werena Werani.[5] His most popular cinema acting came through films Machan, Puthandiya and Asandhimitta.[43] The role in Machan as Stanley was highly praised by the critics and earned him the award for Best Actor.[44][45]