Anjalee Bandara

Anjalee Umesha Bandara (Sinhala: අංජලී උමේශා බංඩාර; born: ) is a Sri Lankan folk singer, lyricist, writer, journalist, and social activist.
==Personal Life==
Anjalee Bandara was born on December 20, 1998, in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. She is the only daughter of Wijerathna Bandara and Shiromi Herath. She is the only sister to a younger brother, Achintha Bandara, and an elder brother, Tharinda Bandara, who is a Western music teacher. She completed her secondary education at the U.B. Wanninayaka National School in Balalla. In 2018, she started the Bachelor of Performing Arts (Special) degree in Music at the University of Visual and Performing Arts, and now she is a third-year student.
==Career==
===Singing===
Anjalee started her singing career in 2016 by singing cover songs in Sinhala, Tamil, and English on social media platforms, and she became famous among the users. In 2020, she started her YouTube channel, Anjalee Bandara. In 2021, she released her first Sinhala mashup cover song, "Datha Dara", which got more love from the fans. Then she continued singing a few more cover songs in Sinhala, Tamil, Hindi, and English on her YouTube channel. Of all the cover songs she sang, "Bandi Preme" got the most traction on all the social media platforms. Especially on TikTok. More than 30K Tiktok videos were made to the song from all over the world. In late 2022, she started releasing her solo songs with her lyrics and melodies. The first song she released was "Mal Samaya", produced by Sandaru Sathsara. After that, she released "Obai Mage Amma" a song that tells about the motherland; "Devi" a meaningful song about fake love; and a nice video story written on her own; and in December, she released the song "Bari".
Because of her mellifluous voice, Anjalee got some invitations from Sri Lankan television music programs to perform her talents. From 2019 to 2021, she performed in "Shanida Sadaya", a music program telecast on I.T.N.; in 2020, she performed in "Jeewithayama Janageeyak", telecast on Jayamaga TV; in 2021, she performed in "Mathra", a music program telecast in Suwarnawahini; in 2022, she performed in "Sihinayaki Re", and in the same year, she performed in "Cover Songs", a music program telecast on Channel C.
She is also a leading member of the Colombo Oriental Choir (Sinhala: කොළඹ පෙරදිග ගායන වෘන්දය) from 2019 to present.
===Lyricist===
Anjalee Bandara started her lyricist career with the award-winning Sinhala song Nari Latha by Sammani Yashodara in 2019. She has contributed more than 54 song lyrics, ranging from folk songs to Indian songs to classic songs. In 2020, she wrote the song "Wagurata Premiya", which became more popular, and from that, people got to know more about her talent in lyric writing.
Selected Song Lyrics,
Wagurata Premiya by Rameesha Lakshani, Premaye Charika by Isuri Upeksha, Bankar Adare by Prageeth Deshan ft. Momo, Ma Langa Randi Hindinna by Tharindu Damsara, Sanwedana Irthuwa by Thilina Wanninayake, Sihina Madure by Ishini Bandara, Nurata by Shehan Herath
Anjalee also contributed a few Sri Lankan teledrama song lyrics. In the 2021 "Ladies Only" teledrama theme song and in the 2022 "Nube Nethu Dilei" song by Ravi Royster in the "Lanwi" teledrama telecast on Hiru TV.
===Content and script writing===
Anjalee Bandara is a talented content and scriptwriter. Most of her scripts for music videos became popular. Some of them are, Siri by Killer B, Sandaru Sathsara, and DJ Mass, Macarena Cover by Sandaru Sathsara, Barbie Girl in 5 Styles by Sandaru Sathsara, Senorita cover by Sandaru Sathsara & It's the final countdown by Sandaru Sathsara and Some (සෝමේ)
===A freelance writer, editor, and journalist===
Anjalee Bandara has a large fan base, because of her Sinhala quotes and articles about various situations in society. She has her own freelance writing page, Banjalee Andara (Sinhala;බංජලී අංඩාර).
===Social Activists===
Anjalee Bandara is also a leading social activist. On her social media handles, she mostly writes articles about women's and children's abuse, environmental pollution, and various situations that a common man can be faced with in an unfair society. She is researching these topics and making society aware of these unfair situations, how to overcome these aspects, and how to take action in these situations. Because of her articles, she has a large number of followers around her. She also writes articles about the corrupt political situation in Sri Lanka. She has a non-partisan view of politics.