An award-winning Sri Lankan film and TV actress, Nita Fernando made her debut on screen with the TV series Landaka Mahima (1965) and over the next eight years, she starred in more than 40 films with her silver screen debut being Parasathu Mal directed by Gamini Fonseka. After her marriage to lawyer Elian Perera in 1975, Fernando took a break from acting and moved to Canada, where she started working as a receptionist at the Montreal General Hospital. She made her comeback in the film industry in 1983 where she produced and starred in Sooriyakantha. She kept a low profile until 1998 before she starred in Pavuru Walalu, which won her wide international acclaim and awards including the Best Actress Award at the 1998 Singapore Film Festival, the Vishwa Kirthie Award, the Presidential Award and the Critics Award in 1999 and the OCIC Award for Best Actress in Sri Lanka in 2000.