Suminda Sirisena සුමින්ද සිරිසේන
Born	Bulathgamuwe Suminda Sirisena (1948-07-04)4 July 1948 Bossella, Kegalle, Ceylon
Died	4 December 2023(2023-12-04) (aged 75) Gampaha, Sri Lanka
Education	Tholangamuwa Central College
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1966–2012
Spouse	Leela Sirisena
Children	2
Parents	Bulathgamuwage Singho (father) Punchi Nona (mother)
Awards	Kala Keerthi (2017), Kala Bhushana (2014)

Kala Keerthi Bulathgamuwe Suminda Sirisena (Sinhala: සුමින්ද සිරිසේන; 4 July 1948 – 4 December 2023), popularly as Suminda Sirisena, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television.^[1] Highly versatile actor, Sirisena played a wide range of starring or supporting roles and was a recipient of the Best Actor award at many award festivals.^[2][3][4]

Personal life

Sirisena was born on 4 July 1948, in Bossella, a rural village in Kegalle, Sri Lanka as the eldest of the family with four siblings.^[5][6] His father, Bulathgamuwage Singho was a small-time businessman in the village who also performed traditional Sri Lankan folk dramas^[7] and his mother, Punchi Nona, was a housewife. He had two younger brothers and a younger sister. After having his primary education at the village school Bossella Maha Vidyalaya, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Tholangamuwa Central College in 1963.^[8]

After his school education, Sirisena moved to Colombo to join the Sri Lanka Railways as a Special Apprentice in 1969. While establishing his career as an actor in theatre, Sirisena went to Oman in 1970 to work as a quantity surveyor for two years. After returning home, he worked as a technical officer at the Victoria Dam project. Then he went back abroad in 1979 and returned to Sri Lanka in 1984.^[9]

Before 1971, he was an activist and continually attended the meetings conducted by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. But as the party entered the process of armed struggle, he quit politics.^[10] He obtained a B.A. degree in Social Sciences from the Open University of Sri Lanka and then completed an M.A, degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.^[11]

Suminda Sirisena was married to Leela Sirisena. The couple had two sons, Prabhath and Nanditha.^[11]

Acting career

At Tholangamuwa Central College, he studied under Ariyawansa Ranaweera, Jayasumana Dissanayake, Daya Alwis and Wijayaratne Athurupane who were scholars and artists who had a major influence on Sri Lankan theatre and arts for many decades. In 1967, Sirisena played the lead role "Kashyapa" in the stage drama Girikūṭa which was selected to the final round of the State School Drama Festival.^[9] In 1969, he joined the first batch of students of the theatre school Ranga Shilpa Shalika at Lionel Wendt Art Centre founded by Dhamma Jagoda with the assistance of Daya Alwis.

His first role on the public stage was the role of "Dionis" in the play Mūdu Puththu,^[3] which also marked the first appearance of popular cinema actor Ravindra Randeniya. He acted in many stage dramas of the 1970s such as Namel Weeramuni's Vansakkārayō, Ranjith Dharmakeerthy's Hasthi Rāja Mahattayā and Hiru Næti Lova, Dayananda Gunawardene's ānanda Javanikā, Tilak Gunawardena's Kōntha Nōnā, Dhamma Jagoda's Ves Muhuṇu, Jayalath Manoratne's Andarēlā, Guru Tharuva', Bandula Vithanage's Rōmaya Gini Ganī.^[11] He made his film acting debut with Duhulu Malak (1976).^[3]

After returning to Sri Lanka in 1984, Sirisena was involved in Thilak Gunawardena's dramas. He acted in the plays Sapatheru Hamine by Miyuri Samarasinghe and then in Mī Pura Væsiyō by Somaratne Dissanayake. After completing the studies, he joined the drama group of Ediriweera Sarachchandra and acted in renowned stage dramas such as Manamē, Sinhabāhu, Kadāvaḷalu, Bava Kaḍathurā, and Mahāsāra.^[12] In 1993, Sirisena won the Best Actor award for the role in Kadathurawa at the State Drama Festival.^[6] In 2002, he formed a drama school called "Siwuranga". He was able to produce four batches of students from that academy. Thereafter he worked as an instructor at the Tower Hall Academy in Colombo.^[11] In 1997, he won the best actor award at the State Theater Festival that year for his performance in the play Rōmaya Gini Ganī.

Sirisena's first teledrama was Sihina Nimnaya, produced by Sri Lanka Rupavahini in 1985. He gained wide acclaim for his second teledrama Kumārihāmi, another Rupavahini production, where he played the supporting role of Hichchi Mahaththayā.^[13] He later acted in more than 40 teledrama series.^[3] His role as "Isaa" in the critically acclaimed serial Charitha Thunak is a hallmark of his television career. He later acted in the serials: Nisalavila, Ramya Suramya, Hada Vila Sakmana as well as in Asalvæsiyō with the role "Jayamangala".

He also acted in many critically notable films such as Saptha Kanya, Yakada Pihatu, Uppalawanna, Samanala Thatu, Uduganyamaya and Ira Handa Yata.^[14][15]

During his illness, he was working with two television serials, Sepalika and Boralu Paara.^[11][16]

Filmography

• No. denotes the Number of Sri Lankan films in the Sri Lankan cinema.^[57]

Awards and honours

• Suminda Sirisena was awarded Kala Keerthi, the highest national honour for arts, culture and drama in Sri Lanka, in 2017.^[61][62]

• In 2014 he was awarded the Deshanethru award^[63] and the Kala Bhushana state award in recognition of the service he had rendered to the country's performing arts.

References