the 21st sumathi awards ceremony was celebrated at the bandaranaike memorial international conference hall on 18 august 2016 with the participation of president maithripala sirisena as the chief guest. 55 awards were given at the ceremony under 8 categories. in the best award category, sumathi award for the best teledrama actor was won by sriyantha mendis and best teledrama actress was nilmini tennakoon. in popular award category, kavinga perera won the most popular actor award for the second consecutive time, whereas ishara sandamini won the most popular actress award. the u.w. sumathipala memorial award was given to, veteran actor amarasiri kalansuriya and veteran actress anoja weerasinghe. out of 55 awards given, teledrama "daskon" won 12 awards including best actor, director, television series, music director and cameraman.