Dharmasiri Bandaranayake (born 6 October 1949) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. Particularly working as a playwright, Bandaranayake is an artist who attempts to connect the sociopolitical environment with the civil society through art.

Career

Bandaranyake's debut ''Hansa Vilak'' in 1980 dealt with facets of a society at odds with itself. His other films like '' Thunveni Yamaya'' (1983), '' Suddilage Kathaawa'' (1984), '' Bawa Duka'' and '' Bawa Karma'' (1997) followed similar themes. Two films ''Bawa Duka'' and ''Bawa Karma'' challenged the repressive dogma of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Common arcs in Bandaranayake's films follow the conflicted lives of men and women, transformation of private lives into public affairs, the unpleasant reality of marriage and society and the dark side of human desire. He produced many stage plays such as ''Eka Adhipathi'', ''Makarakshaya'', ''Dhawala Bheeshana'', ''Yakshagamanaya'' and ''Trojan Kanthavo'' have all dealt with current issues of national and political importance. In 1999, Bandaranyake first staged the play ''Trojan Kanthawo'' which adapted

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

' Greek drama ''

The Trojan Women ''The Trojan Women'' (, lit. "The Female Trojans") is a tragedy by the Ancient Greece, Greek playwright Euripides, produced in 415 BCE. Also translated as ''The Women of Troy,'' or as its transliterated Greek title ''Troades, The Trojan Women'' ...

'' for a Sinhala and Tamil audience. It is meant as an anti-war statement and proved to be controversial with the Sri Lankan government despite critical acclaim. Bandaranayake received several death threats in 2001 after he made plans to stage the play in predominantly Tamil areas. In 2021, his film ''Hansa Vilak'', a new copy has been reprinted with colored format and screened in cinemas from March 10.

Filmography

As actor

As director

References

External links

Dharmasiri Bandaranayake in Sinhala Cinema Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandaranayake, Dharmasiri, Kalukapuge Living people Sri Lankan film directors 1949 births Sri Lankan dramatists and playwrights Sri Lankan theatre directors Kala Suri Kala Keerthi