Bandu Samarasinghe

Bandu Samarasinghe
Born	Bandusena Samarasinghe (1955-11-22) November 22, 1955 Kegalla, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Education	St. Mary's College, Kegalle
Occupation	Actor, Director, Producer, Singer, Screen Play Writer
Years active	1973-Present
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Spouse(s)	Swarna Samarasinghe (m. 1980)
Children	Rasoga Samarasinghe Hiranya Samarasinghe Kanchana Samarasinghe
Awards	SLIM Nelson Sarasaviya Creative Performance

Bandusena Samarasinghe, popularly known as Bandu (බන්දු සමරසිංහ) is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema.^[1] He entered the film industry in 1975 with in Sadahatama Oba Mage(Forever You is My) film.^[2] Actor, singer, director, and producer, Bandu is a popular comedy actor throughout 1990-2005 decade, revolutionizing the cinema history with his slapstick comedy roles with late Freddie Silva and comic duo partner Tennyson Cooray. He starred in films like Rodaya(1995), Pemmal Mala(1998), Left Right Sir (2004), and Peeter One (2013). His most promising and blockbuster acting came through Re Daniel Dawal Migel and Cheerio film series and Somi Boys.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Personal life

Bandu was on born on 22 November 1955 in a family of five children. His father Kegalle Podi Mahaththya (1917-1980) was a mechanic and his mother Lellagaha Goda Iskole Hamine (1924-2007) was a teacher. His pre school education came through St. Savior Convent and secondary education by St. Mary's College, Kegalle.^[9]

Career as an actor

Started as early as 1972 at the age of 17 or so, Bandu started his cinema career with the Sadahatama Oba Mage. He acted in slapstick comedies along with Freddie Silva in the 1980s. He has acted more than 85 Sri Lankan films up to 2015 and almost 95 percent of the films are comedy type and very few were drama type.^[10][11][12]

As a director

Before his comedy partner, Tennyson Cooray moved to direction in 2013, Bandu started to showcase his talents in direction. His first direction film Rodaya released in 1995 and gained lots of attraction.^[13][14]

Television

His first teledrama acting came under his own direction, through Dara Garaj. And he acted few telidramas like Roy de Silva's Tarzan Ape Man, Giriraj Kaushalya's Nana Kamare^[15] and Sikuru Lanthe. His first "Bandu Live In Concert" was held on 2005 and after 11 years, he performed his next Bandu Live In Concert on 27 August 2016 at BMICH.^[16]

Filmography

Bandu-Tenny Duo in 2016

Director and actor

Songs

References