Sydney Chandrasekara (; 15 January 1959 – 14 November 2020) was 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, ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and a prominent

media personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

. One of the iconic figures of Sri Lankan media, Chandrasekara contributed to several television programs over a career spanning more than four decades.

Personal life

He was born on 15 January 1959 in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Sri Lanka. He was educated at

Ananda College Ananda College () is a Prestigious Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is often known as "The Pinnacle of buddhist education " It is the largest national Buddhist school for boys in Sri Lanka, with a student population exceeding 8000 ac ...

. Chandrasekara died in hospital on 14 November 2020, at the age of 61, following a brief illness.

Career

He is a senior journalist as well as a television program producer and lyricist who worked extensively in Sri Lankan media. After school he joins

Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation The Sri Lanka Rūpavāhinī Corporation (; ), also known as Jathika Rupavahini (lit. National Television) or simply as Rupavahini, is the national television network of Sri Lanka. The term Rupavahini literally means "purveyor of images" in the ...

(SLRC), had the privilege of being mentored by the pioneer of Sri Lankan dubbing,

Titus Thotawatte Thotawattege Don Manuel Titus de Silva ( Sinhala:ටයිටස් තොටවත්ත), popularly as Titus Thotawatte, was a Sri Lankan director and editor who made several popular Sri Lankan action movies in the 1960s and 1970s and later ...

. Then collaborated with Thotawatte, he involved in dubbing programs such as ''Malgudi Dawasa'', ''Rasara'' and later on ''Athru Pelassa'', Sri Lanka's first live puppet program. Later he was appointed as a producer in the drama section of the Rupavahini Corporation. Then in 1992, he became the director of the television serial ''Nidikumba'', first teledrama in the Sri Lanka to be created using multiple cameras in a studio. Ninety per cent of the drama was shot inside SLRC, becoming the first ever studio production of a teledrama at that time. In the drama, popular musician

Clarence Wijewardena Vithana Kuruppu Arachchilage Clarence Arthur Somasinghe Wijewardena Justice of the peace#Sri Lanka, JP (, ; 3 August 1943 – 13 December 1996), known professionally as Clarence Wijewardena, was a Sri Lankan singer, composer and musician. Consi ...

sung the song "Aetha Epita Hima Kanden", which became a milestone in Sinhala teledrama history. The drama still holds a record for its earnings for SLRC including limited number of episodes, maximum spectator response and attraction. After the success of ''Nidikumba'', he made several popular television serials including: ''Kumarayaneni'', ''Piyabana Assaya'', ''Samudra Chaya'' and ''Pembarayaneni''. After resigning from Rupavahini, he joined with

Swarnavahini Swarnavahini (; literally Golden Channel) is a Sinhala language general entertainment and news television channel in Sri Lanka owned by EAP Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of EAP Holdings. Launched in 1994 as ETV (Extra Terrestrial Vision), ...

where he served as the Deputy Program Director and First Director of News at Live at 8 News Division. During his period, he made the morning show ''Swarnodaya'' and then became the concept creator for ''Live @ 8'' news section. Later, he joined Sirasa TV for News First as a consultant. In 2005, after Tsunami disaster, he composed the song ''We Shall Rebuild'' which was later sung by

Bathiya and Santhush Bathiya & Santhush (), also known as BnS, are a Sri Lankan pop duo consisting of Bathiya Jayakody (born on December 22, 1976) and Santhush Weeraman (born on September 5, 1977), who met while at the "Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music and" i ...

and Ashanthi De Alwis. He also directed the serial ''A-9 Mei Paaren Enna'' telecast on

Sirasa TV Sirasa TV is a digital, terrestrial television network in Sri Lanka. It is the sister channel of ' TV 1' (Previously MTV Channel and MTV Sports) which was established in 1992. Sirasa TV was started in 1998 as a sister to its radio network Sir ...

. During this period, he brought the concept of the popular program ''Dawasa'' among the audience. Then he made the television political comedy ''Good Bad Ugly'' which revealed the hidden reality of Sri Lankan politics. He made several contributions towards News First ''Gammadda'' program. He created several teledramas and was a prolific lyricist. His song ''As Deka Piyana Nidaganna'' is a very famous song sung by Rookantha Gunathilaka. The song became a sensation in Sri Lanka, when Shihan Mihiranga sang it in the reality competition Sirasa Superstar. Then he composed the popular songs: ''Mamai Obe Chanchala'', ''Api Wenwena Tharamata'' and ''Sanda Hiru Tharaka''. Meanwhile, he also wrote theme songs for dubbed teledramas such as ''Me Adarayay'', ''Prema Dadayama'', ''Digvijaya'' and ''Ananthen Aa Tharu Kumara''. Apart from them, he also created the song ''Mage Mawbimai'' for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka. The Vanitha Bhimana theme song launched by News First to empower the courageous women of Sri Lanka was also composed by Chandrasekara. Recently in 2020, he also wrote the theme song ''Nagitimu Sri Lanka'' which was released for COVID-19 pandemic for public awareness. He was an advisor to Newsfirst section of

during his demise. His hosted the program ''Sundara Birinda'', which interviewed the wives of veteran artists, was also very popular on TV One. In 2017, he directed his maiden short film ''Cobbler's Dream''.

Filmography

References

External links

Discovery ගිය අපේ කොල්ලෙක්ගේ වැඩක්

සිඩ්නි චන්ද්‍රසේකර අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වෙයි

ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ මාධ්‍යවේදී සහ ප්‍රවීණ කලා ශිල්පි සිඩ්නි චන්ද්‍රසේකර මියයයි

Farewell to the Journey of Life Special Program on Senior Journalist Sidney Chandrasekara

‘පුදනු නොලැබූ පිදිය යුත්තා’ නික්ම ගොස් අදට විසි වසරයි...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandrasekara, Sydney 1959 births 2020 deaths Sinhalese people Sri Lankan journalists Sri Lankan lyricists Alumni of Ananda College Sri Lankan television personalities Sri Lankan television presenters Sri Lankan television people