Poojana Dandeniya
Contents
Summary
- Poojana Dandeniya is a Sri Lanka actor.
- He portrayed tobacco smoking in several of his roles in entertainment productions violating the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act.
Background
Poojana Dandeniya, born on 23 March 1991, is a Sri Lankan actor. He was educated at Kekirawa Maithree Senanayake College, Medawachchiya Central College, and Anuradhapura Central College. He is married to Chathu Dandeniya.[1]
Poojana entered the entertainment industry through the “Somalatha Subasinghe Playhouse”.[2]He has contributed to multiple films, teledramas and other productions including Thriloka (2019), DNA (2020), Giridevi (2020), Sakarma (2021), once Upon a Time in Colombo (2021), Meeya (2022), Sihina Sameekarana (2023), Father (2026), the short film Black Rose, and Sakuge Kathawa.
He received several awards including Best Upcoming Teledrama Actor (2020) and Best Supporting Teledrama Actor (2021) at the Raigam Tele'es Awards and Best Supporting Actor at Sumathi Tele Awards 2021.[3]
Tobacco Related Activities
Promoting Tobacco Smoking through His Acting
Poojana also played the lead role in the Father which contained multiple smoking and alcohol consuming scenes violating National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act No 27 of 2006. Read more about the movie from the TU page Sinhala movie “Father” Accused of violation of NATA Act. Poojana depicted smoking scenes in multiple productions as shown in gallery 01.
- Gallery 1
Image 2: Poojana depicting smoking in the short film; Black Rose. [4]
Image 3: Poojana in a smoking scene in DNA web series [5]
Image 4: Poojana in a smoking scene in DNA web series [5]
Portraying Smoking on His Personal Social Media Profiles
The following photographs of portraying cigarette smoking, as shown in the Gallery 2 were displayed on his social media accounts.
- Gallery 2
Image 5: Screenshot from Facebook profile published on 07 August 2021.[6]
Image 6: Screenshot from Facebook profile published on 06 August 2021[7]
Image 7: Screenshot from Facebook profile published on 08 June 2021[8]
Image 8: Screenshot from Facebook profile published on 28 January 2023. [9]
Image 9: Screenshot from Facebook profile published on 26 March 2022[10]
Promoting Alcohol on His Personal Social Media Profiles
The following photographs of promoting alcohol, as shown in the Gallery 3 were displayed on his public social media accounts.
- Gallery 3
Image 10: Screenshot from Facebook profile published on 01 December 2020.[11]
Image 11: Screenshot from Facebook profile published on 11 September 2025[1]
Image 12: Screenshot from Facebook profile published on 23 March 2025[1]
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.[12]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.[13]
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.
Tobacco Unmasked Resources
- National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act
- Sinhala movie “Father” Accused of violation of NATA Act
- The teledrama ‘Meeya’
The local language translations
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Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Poojan Dandeniya.Facebook, undated, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Poojan Dandeniya. Biography, 2026, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Kalum Wijesooriya. මට රජෙක්ට වගේ සලකනවා... ඔස්මන් අන්කල් කිව්වෙ මට වැඩිය හොදට ඔයා කරල තියෙනවා කියලා, 16 February 2016, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Prime Digi. Black Rose Short Film Teaser | Poojana Dandeniya | Anuradha Edirisinghe | Jo Dissanayake |Prime Digi, 20 March 2022, accessed May 2026
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dialog Axiata. ViU Originals - DNA Episode 01, 9 June 2022, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Poojana Dandeniya. Facebook, 7 August 2021, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Poojana Dandeniya. Facebook, 6 August 2021, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Poojana Dandeniya. Facebook, 8 June 2021, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Poojana Dandeniya. Facebook, 28 January 2023, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Poojana Dandeniya. Facebook, 26 March 2022, accessed May 2026
- ↑ Poojana Dandeniya. Facebook, 1 December 2020, accessed May 2026
- ↑ 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
