Sri Lanka, May 25 -- Malini Fonseka, widely hailed as the Queen of Sinhala Cinema, passed away yesterday morning at a private hospital following a brief illness. She was 78.

Silver screen sensation Fonseka starred in over 150 Sinhala movies and also the Tamil movie Pilot Premnath. She was also an accomplished actress on the stage as well as the small screen.

She has won nearly 100 local and international awards including the coveted Sarasaviya Awards during her stellar career. She was also a Member of Parliament for a few years.

Malini Fonseka's final rites will be conducted with full State honours at the Independence Square tomorrow (May 26), Government officials said. This will be telecast live on all channels.

A committee has been ...