Vijitha Mallika

Mallika was born on 5 July 1943 in Negombo as the eldest of the family. Her father Gamamathige Silva was a businessman came to Negambo from Induruwa and started a business. Her mother was Mary Wickramasinghe. Mallika has three younger brothers - Austin, Sunil, Mahinda - and two younger sisters - Chandra and Swarna. Mallika's father's younger sister was married to film actor Boniface Fernando. Also, Vijitha's cousin, Milissina was a stage actress. Mallika's mother's brother, Benjamin Fernando, was a playwright and stage actor in Negombo at the time. Benjamin was the father of popular film actress Lina Fernando. Mallika studied at Sinhala New School, Wella Street, Negombo and then from Newstead Girls College, Negambo. Mallika was married to fellow actor Anton Fernando. She met Fernando during the casting of Veera Vijaya. At that time, Anton was the harmonium player of a band in Negombo. Anton and Vijitha's love affair had obstacles from both sides, due to religious conflicts. ==Career==

At very young age, Mallika showcased the signs to be a future actress. Mallika's uncle, Benjamin Fernando often known as Benjamin Master was a friend of playwright and dialogue writer Hugo Fernando. When Hugo saw her at the house, she expressed her intentions to be an actress. With that guidance from Hugo Master, Mallika made her cinema debut as a minor role in 1957 film Suraya directed by T.R. Sundaram. A felicitation ceremony titled Dawasak Evi for Vijitha Mallika was held on 18 March 2017 at Maradana Tower Hall. ==Filmography==