Saddha Mangala Sooriyabandara

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Saddha Mangala Sooriyabandara
සද්ධා මංගල සුරියබණ්ඩාර
Born
Saddha Mangala Hughes

(1968-06-19) June 19, 1968 (age 53)
NationalitySri Lankan
EducationSt. Anthony's College, Kandy
OccupationJournalist, media director, TV presenter, actor, script writer, lyricist
Years active1994–present
Spouse(s)Chethani Priyanga Wijetunga
ChildrenInduwara Sooriyabandara
RelativesChandana Sooriyabandara (Brother)
Tharaka Wasalamudaliarachchi (sister-in-law)

Saddha Mangala Sooriyabandara (born 19 June 1968; Sinhala: සද්ධා මංගල සුරියබණ්ඩාර) is a Sri Lankan journalist and media personality.[1][2] He is best known for the television programs Angili Salakuna and Always Breakdown.[3] He has worked as a program director, and before the public as a film and teledrama screenwriter, teledrama producer, television program director, journalist, announcer, songwriter and actor.[4]

Sooriyabandara is the screenwriter of the television serial Haara Kotiya, and currently has written nearly 20 television serials.[3]

Family background[]

He was born on 19 June 1968 in the village of Watapuluwa about 5 km from Kandy, as the second son in the family with four siblings. His father Lionel Sooriyabandara was a music teacher and sitarist who holds a degree in Music from Heywood Institute of Arts (University of the Visual and Performing Arts). He also worked in art and stage drama. His mother Sulochana Gamage, was also a music student at the same college with his father. Saddha's childhood was spent in the art environment at home and he was inspired to do art by his father. He has one elder brother, Chandana, one younger brother, Chathura and one younger sister, Apsara.[5]

Saddha completed his primary education from Watapuluwa Junior School and later passed the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination in 1979. Then he entered St. Anthony's College, Kandy in 1980 to complete his secondary education. During his school days, he was involved in various drama activities and excelled in stage drama production and acting, art, singing, oratory and debate, and writing. He is also an athlete and has represented the school at the national level in the 110m hurdles.[5]

Saddha has two brothers: Chandana and Chathura and one sister: Apsara. His elder brother Chandana Sooriyabandara is also a senior journalist in Sri Lanka and is currently the Executive Officer of Sirasa TV who became the Channel Head in 2015.[6] Chandana has involved in several television programs as the program director and with the quiz program Obada Lakshapathi Mamada Lakshapathi and political program Satana. In 2018, Chandana was appointed as the head of Sirasa Stein Studios.[7]

Chandana is married to journalist, author, actress and television announcer Tharaka Wasalamudaliarachchi. They have two sons: Gimhan and Muninera. In 2006, Tharaka won The Outstanding Young Person's Award for her contribution to media. She has acted in the television serial Uduwiyal. She worked as a journalist on Swarnavahini for about 15 years and hosted the program Helidarawwa. and then wrote the novels Dehi, Mati, Andara, Konda Kirili (2002) and Andara Mandeya (2002) to which she won the Presidential Youth award.[8]

Personal life[]

Saddha is married to his longtime partner, Warnakulasuriya Patambandige Chethani Wijetunga, whom he met during the work at ADIC. She is a past pupil of Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo. She volunteered for the Alcohol and Drug Information Center (ADIC) and later joined TNL Television.[9] After that she worked as a journalist for an alternative newspaper called 'Iskra' and later joined Lakhanda radio in 1999 as a news reporter. She has also worked as a freelance TV presenter on Rupavahini. She and her husband started the Institute of Media and Performing Arts (IMPAS) in 2003. Simultaneously, she and Saddha started a television production house called Fingerprint media solutions with the aim of creating commercial productions and TV commercials. From 2006 to 2009 she worked for Nature's Secrets, a leading cosmetics company in Sri Lanka. In 2013, she started 'Studio LK', a studio complex headed by her, which has filmed a number of Hollywood and Sri Lankan movies, large-scale reality shows, and TV commercials. Apart from that, she holds a Diploma in Journalism from the University of Colombo and has studied Journalism from Fojo, an affiliate of Kalma University, Sweden.[5]

They have one son; Induwara who is a musician.[1][10] He was born on 29 August 2000 and educated at Isipathana College, Colombo. He is pursuing a Diploma in Sound and Music Technology from the 'Hit Factory Audio Institute' led by Ranga Dasanayake and following a Sangeeth Visharad degree in Music from the Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University. At the age of 19, Induwara became the music director of the teledrama Agni Piyapath, the youngest music composer in Sri Lanka.[11] Apart from that, he also composed music for the upcoming teledrama Malwara Mal.[5][3]

Early career[]

During his G.C.E Advanced Level examination in 1987/88, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) launched an armed insurgency in Sri Lanka and there was severe terror in the Kandy area at that time. State terror against the JVP was escalating to the point of killing young people on the streets. Saddha chose nursing instead of his preferred field of art, as it was dangerous to stay home after high school. In 1989, Saddha joined the Katugastota Hospital as a trainee nursing officer and later entered the Kandy Nursing College for nursing training. However, he left the Nursing School before completing his training.[5]

Then he joined the Alcohol and Drug Information Center (ADIC), an NGO-NORAD sponsored NGO working for drug prevention in Sri Lanka. Previously along with his brother, Saddha had volunteered for drug prevention during school times. Later he was appointed as the permanent member of ADIC. Saddha later founded LIFE – Drug Prevention Movement in Kandy as a project of ADIC, where he became its Project Director at a young age. After quit from ADIC in 1993, he worked briefly as a sales executive at EL-Club, a garment factory.[5]

Meanwhile, he completed a Diploma in Journalism from the University of Colombo and the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

Media career[]

In Television channels[]

In 1994, Saddha started his media career as a freelance TV presenter for the one of privately owned television channels in Sri Lanka: TNL TV. After that, he had the opportunity to work as a news anchor for the first news broadcast on a private TV channel in Sri Lanka. Then in 1995, he got the opportunity to cover the visit of a peace delegation troupe from the South to Jaffna LTTE area, while he was working as a freelance presenter for TNL.[12] During that visit he had his first televised interview which was with LTTE theorist Anton Balasingham. After that successfully reporting on his Jaffna visit, Saddha was recruited to the permanent staff of TNL on February 15, 1995 and got a job as a news coordinator in the news division.[5]

During his tenure as a news reporter for TNL, Saddha worked as a news anchor as well as a program producer. He produced the television program Always Breakdown.[3] He used hand puppets in the program and parodied well-known political figures in a comedic roles. Initially, the script was written by someone else, but later Saddha wrote and directed the script and voiced the characters 'Labores', the puppet character of the then Labor Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.[5]

In 1996, he was covering an LTTE bombing in front of the Army Headquarters in Colombo when he was seriously injured by another suicide bomber. Since then, he has covered a number of LTTE suicide attacks in Sri Lanka. In 1998, Saddha left the Always Breakdown program due to a conflict of opinion with the TNL administration and left the station. In the same year, he joined as a program producer in News and current affairs division for Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. He created various television programs and also worked as a presenter and interviewer for Rupavahini for many years. In 2001, he became a news anchor for Rupavahini.[5]

While on Rupavahini, his best-known program was Angili Salakuna ('The Fingerprint'), a crime investigation program.[3] It was aired at 9.30 pm on Tuesday and became one of the highest grossing shows of all time in Sri Lanka.[13] He also directed the script as well as the narration of Angili Salakuna.[14] At the peak of its ratings, Saddha was removed from the program due to his rejection of attempts by the then rulers to use the program for their own political purposes. Later he was transferred to the documentary and religious division. In addition to Angili Salakuna, he created the programs Uththamachara and Tele Kolama. He was also a prolific political show host who hosted the political programs such as Janamandali, Eththa Netta, Kathiraya for Rupavahini. He left the Rupavahini in 2006.[15]

In 2009 he was invited to become the Program Manager of the television channel Siyatha TV. He left Siyatha TV in 2011 to work full-time in commercials and commercials, and in 2013, Saddha became the creative director of Carlton Sports Network (CSN), Sri Lanka's first sports channel. During this period, he led the development of Elle where he was the CEO of the Sri Lanka Elle Federation. Under his leadership, the Elle National Tournament was held day and night and was telecast live on CSN, for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka sport.[citation needed][16]

Outside television[]

He joined the 'Institute of Media and Performing Arts' (IMPAS), which he co-founded with his wife, Chethani. Through IMPAS, Saddha and Chethani were able to introduce a group of talented journalists, announcers and actors to the field of journalism and acting in Sri Lanka.[3] At the same time, they started a production house called 'Fingerprint Media Solutions', through which they created various commercial programs and advertisements.[5]

Currently, he works as Course Director at the Institute of Media and Performing Arts.

Drama career[]

In 2001, Saddha wrote his maiden teledrama script, Amara Bhawana. However, he rose to fame as a scriptwriter in 2012 with the creation of his television serial Kalu Araliya. However, he had previously wrote the serials Lambert Saha Somapala and Sudu Gindara.[3] He worked with the director Jayaprakash Sivagurunadan for multiple number of serials including: Kalu Araliya, Anguru Siththam, Hansa Pihatu, Kalu Kurulla, Suraduthiyo, Raja Yogaya, Amuthu Rasikaya and recently Agni Piyapath.[17]

In 2017, he created the television serial Haara Kotiya for Swarnavahini.[13] The serial had a few episodes initially and was nominated for Sumathi Awards and Raigam Tele'es in many award categories.[18] Saddha later produced its sequel, titled Kotipathiyo in 2018.[13]

Saddha has already written the scripts for two films titled Ashawari and Sihinabhisheka.[3] In 2016, he became a teledrama producer with the teledrama Kalu Kurulla aired on ITN.[13] In the same year, he started a production company called 'Maathra Productions' with his production partner Chamara Samarawickrema. Since the inception of the company, all the teledramas he has written have been produced through that company.[17]

He first act as a journalist in the television serial Kahala Nadaya directed by Santhusa Liyanage.[13] In 2017, he acted in the children's film Paha Samath directed by Jayaprakash Sivagurunadan.[19] In 2020, he wrote the television serial Agni Piyapath in which he also played the role of a gangster "Raajan". Meanwhile, he is also a lyricist, who wrote the song Heena Thibunata Kotiyak sung by Shyamen Dangamuwa for the serial Haara Kotiya, song Dahas Ganan Heena Balala for the serial Kotipathiyo and song Heena Lowe Thaniwila for the serial Sillara Samanallu. In 2020, he appeared in the teledrama Agni Piyapath with the supportive role 'Rajan'.[3]

In 2021, he won the special merit award at Sumathi Awards for the script of Amuthu Rasikaya.[20] In the same year, he wrote the script for television serial Nadagamkarayo. The serial became a hallmark in Sri Lankan television, where all the episodes became YouTube trending with more than 1 million views.[21]

Television serials[]

Year Television serial Director Roles Channel Ref.
2001 Amara Bawana Himself Director, Scriptwriter Sirasa TV
2005 Sorakama Santhusa Liyanage Scriptwriter Rupavahini
2005 Lembert & Somapala Namal Sooriyabandara Scriptwriter Rupavahini
2010 Sudu Gindara Rihan Raveendra Scriptwriter Independent Television Network
2012 Kalu Araliya Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter Swarnavahini
2013 Anguru Siththam Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter Swarnavahini
2014 Monara Kadadhasi Christy Shelton Fernando Scriptwriter Swarnavahini
2015 Hansa Pihatu Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter Swarnavahini
2016 Kalu Kurulla Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter, Producer Independent Television Network
2016 Sura Duthiyo Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter, Producer Hiru TV
2017 Haara Kotiya Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter, Producer Swarnavahini
2018 Kotipathiyo Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter, Producer Swarnavahini
2018 Sillara Samanallu Sanjaya Nirmal Scriptwriter, Producer Swarnavahini
2018 Rajayogaya Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter, Producer Independent Television Network
2018 Aganthukaya Christy Shelton Fernando Scriptwriter, Producer Swarnavahini
2019 Dadayam Bambaru Sanjaya Nirmal Scriptwriter, Producer Swarnavahini
2019 Amuthu Rasikaya Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter, Producer Rupavahini [22]
2020 Agni Piyapath Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter, Producer, Actor: Raajan Swarnavahini [23]
2021 Nadagamkarayo Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter, Producer Swarnavahini [24]
2021 Paara Dige Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan Scriptwriter Swarnavahini
TBD Malwara Mal Iresh Lokubandara Scriptwriter TBD

As a lyricist[]

  • Heena Thibunata Kotiyak ('Haarakotiya' theme song) – sung by Shyamen Dangamuwa [25]
  • Dahas Ganan Heena Balala ('Kotipathiyo' theme song) – sung by Shyamen Dangamuwa [26]
  • Heena Lowe Thaniweela ('Sillara Samanallu' theme song) – sung by Tiran Yap and Sandaruwan Jayasinghe
  • Jeewithe Kaviyak Nowe ('Dadayam Bambaru' theme song) – sung by Vinod Alwis and Kaizar Kaiz
  • Bodima Bodima ('Hulan Gedara' theme song) – sung by Rodney Warnakula
  • Sura Doothiyo (Sura Duthiyo' theme song) – sung by Raini Charuka
  • Amara Warama ('Amara Bawana' theme song) – sung by Ravindra Yasas
  • Umathu Ginidel ('Agni Piyapath' theme song) – sung by Bachi Susan
  • Api Yanawa – sung by Harsha Dhanosh ft. Lokka

Awards and accolades[]

Sumathi Awards[]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2002 Ilakkaya (Rita John Murder) Best Television Current Affairs Program Nominated
2003 Angili Salakuna Best Television Current Affairs Program[27] Won
2004 Angili Salakuna Best Television Current Affairs Program Nominated
2014 Gam Medde Keli Sellam Best Television Sports Program Won
2014 Thathparaya Best Presenter Nominated
2017 Haarakotiya Most Popular Tele Drama Nominated

State Television Awards[]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2006 Uththamachara Best Documentary Programme Won
2006 Uththamachara Jury Award Won

Raigam Tele'es[]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2019 Harakotiya Theme Song [28] Special Jury Award Won

Sumathi Awards[]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2021 Amuthu Rasikaya script [20] Merit Award Won

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Saddhamangala Sooriyabandara – Family". lankahelp. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Saddha Mangala Sooriyabandara". IMDb. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Becoming an actor is a fever I had when I was a child ... I have not recovered properly yet ... Sadda Mangala Sooriyabandara". Divaina. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Saddha Mangala Sooriyabandara – සද්ධා මංගල සුරියබණ්ඩාර". Digital Identity of Sinhala Cinema. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "Chat With Aruni: Sadhdhamangala Sooriyabandara". Ceylon Today. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Don't think of picking feathers from a turtle: Sirasa TV, Channel Head Chandana Sooriyabandara". News First. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Sirasa TV chief to be head of Stein Studios". Sri Lanka Mirror. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Twinkling Tharaka!". Daily News. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Saddha's son in music direction" (PDF). Mawbima. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Induwara Sooriyabandara". Sunday Lankadeepa. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Weaving magic with music - Induwara Sooriyabandara emerges as youngest music composer with "Agni Piyapath"". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Me Mamada (මේ මමද? ) - කිසිදා කිසිවෙකුට නොකියු මගේ කතාව (Sadda Mangala)". VFM RADIO 107. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "I never write roles for actors, I write the character and then find the suitable actor - Saddha Mangala" (PDF). Mawbima Hadagasma. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Unforgettable documentaries on TV at that time". lifie. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  15. ^ "National TV does a documentary on Horizon Lanka". Horizon Lanka. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  16. ^ "FCID silent over Saddhamangala". Sri Lanka Mirror. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b "Dayan Witharana birthday post". Dayan Witharana official facebook page. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  18. ^ "Haara Kotiya, Its No Waste Of Time!". The Sunday Leader. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  19. ^ "5සමත් ළඟදීම ඔබේ නගරයේ සිනමා ශාලාවට". cinema.lk. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b "'Veeraya Gedara Awaith' won big at Sumathi Awards 2020". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  21. ^ "'Nadagamkarayo' is my father's story". Aruna. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Nugasewana Amuthu Rasikaya 2019-02-20". Sri Lanka Rupavahini. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  23. ^ "Those three boys are a nuisance to the village ..." Sarasaviya. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Sivagurunathan begins 'Nadagamkarayo'". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  25. ^ "Heena Thibunata Kotiyak". Music.lk. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  26. ^ "Saddha Mangala Sooriyabandara lyrics". lklyrics. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  27. ^ "Sumathi Award winners in each year". www.sumathiawards.lk.
  28. ^ "Raigam Tele'es 2019 award winners". Sarasaviya.

External links[]

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