Dinakshie Priyasad
Contents
Background
Dinakshie Priyasad is a Sri Lankan actress, television presenter and media personality. She was born on 18th March 1990 in Colombo. She studied at the Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitya, and the Royal Institute International School. Her father is a Film Director, Dinesh Priysad, and Mother is Shirani Priyasad, an actress and a costume designer.[1] Her two younger sisters, Shanudrie Priysad, and Sheshadrie Priyasad, are also actresses working in the entertainment industry.[2]She is married to Saranga Disasekara, an actor, a producer, and a media personality, and their daughter is Saranya. Dinakshie has received multiple awards including the most popular actress at the Derana Film Awards 2016 and at Sarasavi Awards 2020.[3] She also received the popular teledrama actress award in 2013 at Sumathi Awards.[4][5]
Tobacco Related Activities
Positive Influences
Dinaskshie appeared in a video for the World No Tobacco Day, which was part of a media campaign organised by the Alcohol and Drug Information Center (ADIC) Sri Lanka. The video made the public explicitly aware that the tobacco industry influences the entertainment industry to promote tobacco smoking in media content.[7]
Negative Influences
Take Care is a teledrama telecasted on the Independent Television Network (ITN), a state-owned television channel in Sri Lanka, starring Dinakshie as the lead actress, and directed by her husband, Saranga Dissasekara. The teledrama contained multiple tobacco smoking promotional scenes. The scene depicting Dinakshie smoking was removed before being aired but the video clip and the images of the scene were later posted by its lead actor and producer, Saranga Disasekara on his personal Facebook account. [8]
Alcohol Related Activities
Promoting alcohol in her acting
Dinakshie plays a character that is shown to be drinking beer in ‘Under One Roof’, a short film on YouTube. The film is directed, scripted and produced by Anushka Rasanjana De Silva, who is also the script writer of the Take Care teledrama. [9]
Promoting alcohol on her personal social media profiles
A series of photographs promoting alcohol was seen on her public Instagram account.[10]
Implications
Multiple research studies have shown that exposure to portrayal of tobacco products or their use in television and in movies is associated with initiation of smoking among viewers, especially among adolescents and youth, and sustenance of smoking among current smokers.[11]A large body of evidence suggests that tobacco industry is known to have commissioned celebrities to promote tobacco and related products in media and through entertainment activities.[12]
National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act No 27 of 2006 is the main legal framework for tobacco and alcohol control in Sri Lanka. Section 35 of the NATA Act prohibits tobacco and alcohol advertisements and promotion in media including ‘the internet’. NATA Act defines tobacco advertisements as, “any writing, still or moving picture, sign, symbol or distinctive colours or other visual image or any audible message or any combination of the aforesaid that promotes or is intended to promote – smoking, the purchase or use of a tobacco product, a trade mark registered in respect of a tobacco product or articles that include tobacco products, a brand name associated with a tobacco product, the name of the manufacturer of a tobacco product.” Thus, portrayal of tobacco products and their use has a negative effect on tobacco control measures in the country and violates the NATA Act.
TobaccoUnmasked Resources
- Saranga Disasekara
- Take Care
- Anushka Rasanjana De Silva
- National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act
Notes
- ↑ IMDb. Shirani Priyasad, 2024, accessed June 2024
- ↑ A Dilruwan. Biography, 2024, accessed June 2024
- ↑ Films.lk. Dinakshie Priyasad, 2020, accessed June 2024
- ↑ Samadhi Arunachaya. 2013 Sumathi Award Winners Popular TeleDrama Actress, Actor Dinakshie Priyasad and Vishwa Kodikara, 31 October 2013, accessed June 2024
- ↑ Dinakshie Priyasad. Instagram, 29 March 2024, accessed June 2024
- ↑ Lakwimana. Video Message from Dinakshie Priyasad, 2024, accessed June 2024
- ↑ Starfriendslk. Stop Smoking Dinakshi Priyasad, 3 January 2013, accessed June 2024
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Saranga Disasekara. Facebook, 7 June 2024, accessed June 2024
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 MCC Prime. Under one Roof full Movie | එක වහළක් යට සිංහල චිත්රපටය | Dinakshie Priyasad | Prasanna Dekumpitiya, 9 February 2024, accessed June 2024
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Dinakshie Priyasad. Instagram, 18 March 2024, accessed June 2024
- ↑ M Bennett et all. Exposure to tobacco content in episodic programs and tobacco and E-cigarette initiation, October 2020, accessed August 2024
- ↑ A. Charlesworth, S. Glantz. Tobacco and the Movie Industry, 2006, accessed August 2024