Aayu

Aayu (Sinhala: ආයු), is a 2019 Sri Lankan Sinhalese drama film directed by Chathra Weeraman, co-produced by General Daya Ratnayake and Yasas Ratnayake and presented by Weeraman Brothers and Circle 360 Creative Solutions.^[4] It stars Jagath Manuwarna, Sandra Mack and Ashan Dias in lead roles with Malini Fonseka, Kenera Weeratunga, Samanalee Fonseka, Thumindu Dodantenna and Priyantha Sirikumara made supportive roles.^[5][6] The film marked the 150th^[6] and final film appearance of Malini Fonseka, who died on 24 May 2025.^[7]

The film received mixed reviews from critics.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

• Jagath Manuwarna as Sachin, the beach boy
• Sandra Mack as Nishmi^{[13][14][15][16]}
• Ashan Dias as Ravi
• Malini Fonseka as Nishmi's mother
• Kenera Weeratunga as Ayu
• Samanalee Fonseka as Sandy
• Thumindu Dodantenna as Rama
• Priyantha Sirikumara as Cyril
• Udara Abeysekara as Laka
• Nalin Lusena as Suda^[17]
• Dinushika Seneviratne as female monk
• Sampath Jayaweera
• Dasun Pathirana
• Kasuni Kavindi as female doctor
• Akalanka Prabhaswara

This is the second cinema direction by Chathra Weeraman,^[18] who previously directed the blockbuster and critically acclaimed film Aloko Udapadi in 2017 that won several awards in both local and international film festivals.^[4][19] Chathra also made the screenplay with Shakthi Weerasinghe. The film is co-produced by General Daya Ratnayake and Yasas Ratnayake with the assistant of Dinesh Ramanayake.^[20]

Assistant production done by Anuradha Weeraman and Saman Weeraman, where story is written by Saman Weeraman. Cinematography done Kalinga Deshapriya, editing by Saman Elvitigala and Bimal Dushmantha handled both art direction and production design.^[2] Chamara Selara is the assistant director and Janaka Chamara and Pradeep Rajapaksa are the second assistant directors, whereas third assistant director is Medini Adhikari. Primal Ranasinghe and Rasika Ganegodage worked as production executives and production management handled by Iresh Karunaratne under the supervision of Manjula Perera.^[4][20]

Sound designed by Shasika Ruwan Marasinghe, color mixing by Dinindu Jagoda and costume designed by Kumara Karavdeniya. Harsha Manjula and Haroon Shaideen made costume design and hair styling. Shehan Obeysekara is the still photographer, Namal Jayasinghe with screenplay supervision and subtitles done by Nadya Perera. Milinda Tennakoon is the music director and composer,^[2] where Shakthi Weerasinghe and Chinthana Dharmadasa are the film song lyricists. Thusith Simpson, Chathurika Nirmani and Dave Roberts made background vocals.^[4][20] The film has been shot in and around Mirissa.^[6]

The film premiere was screened at Savoy 3C Cinema, Wellawatte on 2 October 2025 and released throughout the island.^[21][22][23]

In 2019, Kalinga Deshapriya Vithanage won the Best Cinematography Award at the Around International Film Festival (ARFF).

The film was nominated for 7 competitive awards at the first Ceylon International Film Festival held in California, USA. Then the film was successfully screened at the Thrissur International Film Festival and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in India.^[2]

It was screened at the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh in January 2019. The film has been successfully represented under the Discoveries Section at The 8th Asian Film Festival Barcelona in Spain and was open to the public online until November 29th.^[20]

The film was released on November 15 at Vairau Park and on November 16 at Sylvia Park in New Zealand Stadium.^[24]

• Aayu at IMDb
• Ayu official trailer on YouTube