{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Aayu | native_name = {{Infobox name module|si|ආයු}} | image = Ayu film poster.jpg | alt = | caption = | director = Chathra Weeraman<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=නිළි රැජන මාලිනි ෆොන්සේකා මෙහෙයවීමමා ලද භාග්යයක්: ආයු අධ්යක්ෂ චත්ර වීරමන්|url=https://sarasaviya.lk/නිළි-රැජන-මාලිනි-ෆොන්සේක/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=sarasaviya.lk}}</ref> | producer = Daya Ratnayake <br> Yasas Ratnayake | writer = Chathra Weeraman <br> Shakthi Weerasinghe | based_on = true story<ref name= new>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=ආයු – ළඟදීම සිනමා හලට|url=https://cinema.lk/ආයු-ළඟදීම-සිනමා-හලට/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=sarasaviya.lk}}</ref> | starring = Jagath Manuwarna<br> Sandra Mack <br>Ashan Dias<br>Malini Fonseka<br> Kenera Weeratunga<br> Samanalee Fonseka<br> Thumindu Dodantenna<br> Priyantha Sirikumara | music = Milinda Tennakoon<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=‘ආයු’ මගේ සංගීත දිවියේ කඩඉමක් |url=https://mawbima.lk/2025/11/12/ආයු-මගේ-සංගීත-දිවියේ-කඩ/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=mawbima.lk}}</ref> | cinematography = Kalinga Deshapriya | editing = Saman Elvitigala | studio = Weeraman Brothers and Circle 360 | distributor = | released = {{Film date|df=y|2025|10|02}} | runtime = 116 minutes | country = Sri Lanka | language = Sinhala | gross = | budget = }}
'''''Aayu''''' ({{langx|si|ආයු}}), is a 2025 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.<ref name="ayu">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=ජීවිතය තුළින් ජීවිතය සොයා යන ආයු|url=https://sarasaviya.lk/ජීවිතය-තුළින්-ජීවිතය-සොය/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=sarasaviya.lk}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=“ආයු” දැන් දිවයින පුරා සිනමා ශාලා වලදී තිරගත වේ!|url=https://mirrorarts.lk/news/11755-ayu-official-song|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=mirrorarts.lk}}</ref><ref name="cast">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=ආයු – ළඟදීම සිනමා හලට|url=https://cinema.lk/ආයු-ළඟදීම-සිනමා-හලට/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=cinema.lk}}</ref> The film marked the 159th<ref name="cast" /> film appearance of Malini Fonseka, who died on 24 May 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=සියක් ආයු ලැබ දිගු කල් දිනේවා !|url=https://sarasaviya.lk/සියක්-ආයු-ලැබ-දිගු-කල්-දින/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=sarasaviya.lk}}</ref>
The film received mixed reviews from critics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=ආයු ජීවිතය දෙස එබී බලන්නට කදිම කවුළුවක්|url=https://www.dinamina.lk/2025/10/31/featured/235912/ආයු-ජීවිතය-දෙස-එබී-බලන්නට/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=dinamina.lk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title="ආයු" ට මල් මිටක් සහ ගල් දෙකක්|url=https://mirrorarts.lk/featured/11788-2025-10-14-07-45-16|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=mirrorarts.lk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=“ආයු” ලාංකේය සිනමාවේ ආයුෂ වැඩි කරයි ද ?|url=https://whatnews.lk/2025/11/03/will-ayu-prolong-the-life-of-the-cinema/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=whatnews.lk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=කාව්යක්කාර සිනමාව - "ආයු"|url=https://mirrorarts.lk/life/notes/11783-2025-10-13-08-42-32|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=mirrorarts.lk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=''ආයු'' ජීවිතය දෙස එබී බලන්නට කදිම කවුළුවක්...|url=https://mirrorarts.lk/featured/11915-2025-11-11-04-16-30|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=mirrorarts.lk}}</ref>
==Plot==
{{No plot|date=October 2025}}
==Cast== * Jagath Manuwarna as Sachin, the beach boy * Sandra Mack as Nishmi<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=Hadagasma|url=https://mawbima.lk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-10-19-Hadagasma.pdf|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=mirrorarts.lk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=ආයු ඔබේ හදවත සහ ආත්මය ස්පර්ශ කරනු ඇත, එයට ඉඩ දෙන්න: සැන්ඩ්රා මැක්|url=https://radiowesl.com/news/25951/articles/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=radiowesl.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=අපි අතරෙත් අපි ඇතුළෙත් නිශ්මිලා ජීවත් වෙන්න පුළුවන්: 'ආයු' වෙතින් සිංහල සිනමාවට එන සැන්ඩ්රා මැක් |url=https://tharunie.lk/2025/10/13/කලා-ලොව/3090/අපි-අතරෙත්-අපි-ඇතුළෙත්-නි/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=tharunie.lk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=දුනු විදින්නිය සිනමාවට… |url=https://www.divaina.lk/meevitha/31296|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=divaina.lk}}</ref> * 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<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=මායි ජගතුයි ඇත්තටම ගහගත්තා – නලින් ලුසේනා|url=https://www.divaina.lk/meevitha/37391|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=divaina.lk}}</ref> * Dinushika Seneviratne as female monk * Sampath Jayaweera * Dasun Pathirana * Kasuni Kavindi as female doctor * Akalanka Prabhaswara
==Production== This is the second cinema direction by Chathra Weeraman,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=Ayu - ආයු - The Movie|url=https://www.saaravita.lk/events/ayu-e0b686e0b6bae0b794-the-movie/108-689547|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=saaravita.lk}}</ref> who previously directed the blockbuster and critically acclaimed film ''Aloko Udapadi'' in 2017 that won several awards in both local and international film festivals.<ref name=ayu /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=අපට විධිමත් බෙදාහැරීමේ ක්රමවේදයක් නැහැ – චත්ර වීරමන්|url=https://www.divaina.lk/meevitha/32712|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=divaina.lk}}</ref> 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.<ref name= screen>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=“ආයු” සමගින් චත්ර වීරමන් බාසිලෝනා සිනමා උළෙලට|url=https://cinema.lk/ආයු-සමගින්-චත්%E2%80%8Dර-වීරමන්-බ/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=cinema.lk}}</ref>
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.<ref name= new /> 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.<ref name=ayu /><ref name= screen />
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,<ref name= new /> where Shakthi Weerasinghe and Chinthana Dharmadasa are the film song lyricists. Thusith Simpson, Chathurika Nirmani and Dave Roberts made background vocals.<ref name=ayu /><ref name= screen /> The film has been shot in and around Mirissa.<ref name= cast />
==Release== The film premiere was screened at Savoy 3C Cinema, Wellawatte on 2 October 2025 and released throughout the island.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=‘ආයු’ මංගල දර්ශනය දා|url=https://sarasaviya.lk/ආයු-මංගල-දර්ශනය-දා/|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=sarasaviya.lk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=චත්ර වීරමන්ගේ “ආයු” ඔක්තෝම්බර් මාසයේ සිට රිදී තිරයට!|url=https://mirrorarts.lk/news/11514-2025-08-18-11-06-13|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=mirrorarts.lk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=චත්ර වීරමන්ගේ “ආයු” හෙට (02) සිට දිවයින පුරා සිනමා ශාලා වලදී තිරගත වීම් ඇරඹේ!|url=https://mirrorarts.lk/news/11729-02-9|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=mirrorarts.lk}}</ref>
==International acclaim== 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.<ref name= new />
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.<ref name= screen />
The film was released on November 15 at Vairau Park and on November 16 at Sylvia Park in New Zealand Stadium.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=ආයු එක්ක නවසීලන්තයට සිනමා වසන්තයක් අරන් එන Krystal Events|url=https://www.saaravita.lk/latest_news/ආය-එකක-නවසලනතයට-සනම-වසනතයක-අරන-එන-Krystal-Events/100-719954|access-date=2025-10-27 |website=saaravita.lk}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|tt11358264}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfRBqKJTPrY ''Ayu official trailer''] on YouTube
Category:2019 Sinhala-language films Category:2019 Sri Lankan films