Eththiligoda Vidana Gamage Pubudu Chathuranga, popularly as Pubudu Chathuranga, is an award-winningSri Lankan actor, model and screenplay writer. He has been nominated for best actors awards twice, and won the Best Actor in The Derana Lux Film awards for his performance in the movie Challenges in 2011. Chathuranga has also been awarded Sarasaviya Awards and SIGNIS Awards several times.
Early life and family
Pubudu was born on 12 November 1982 in Kithulampitiya, Galle. His mother, Lalitha Indrani Weththasinghe, is a housewife born in Colombo who moved to Galle after marrying his father, E.V.G Somasiri, in the 1970s. He has one sister, Dushanthi Thamodini. His surname, Pubudu, came from his father's personal name, given to him by his grandfather. The name Pubudu means "blossoming of wisdom", and Chathuranga stands for any four noble things.
School and education
Pubudu attended Richmond College in Galle, which his father had also attended. His school drama performances started in grade 1, where he acted in a comedic street play, "Mahadana Muththa". Afterwards he appeared in fourteen other stage dramas at the school, including ten English plays, for example Julius Caesar. He organised his own theater group when he was in grade 12 and carried out his own theatrical productions, such as Miriguwa and Histhanak. He was selected to receive higher education as a candidate for a Higher National Diploma in Engineering, and he moved to Colombo. However, he became more involved in the arts than maths.
Television career
Pubudu started his career by appearing on stage in Trojan Women by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake. He then moved to television with a teledrama of Prof. Ariyarathna Athugala, named Samanala Kandawura. Pubudu became popular, landing recurring roles in TV series such as the soap opera Sara. Chathuranga won best actor award at Raigam Tele'es for his role in One Way. He also appeared as a TV presenter, with successful musical chats such as Sikurada Rae and Copy Chat. He also hosted Hiru Golden Film Awards in two occasions with Mahendra Perera in two times.
He made his film debut in the comedic youth film Hiripoda Wassa and received his first notable critical award for this performance through the Sarasaviya Awards. Pubudu obtained recognition for his subsequent work in supporting roles in Tharaka Mal and Dancing Stars, as well as a leading role in Kanyavi, for which he received an award from SIGNIS Awards. He made an international appearance in Uberto Pasolini's award winning movie Machan. Since the 2000s, Pubudu has appeared in 20 movies with locally and internationally recognised directors. His stage career became successful after he appeared in Nari Burathi, where he played the main role. His writing career started in childhood and prospered after he wrote the movie Sara, It is the first Sri Lankan movie which is written based out of a TV serial. He has also written movies such as Pravegaya and Maayaa.
