Suminda Sirisena


Suminda Sirisena is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. He has played a wide range of starring or supporting roles and a recipient of Best Actor award in many local award festivals.

Personal life

Sirisena was born on July 4, 1948, in Bossella, a rural village in Kegalle, Sri Lanka as the eldest of the family. His father Bulathgamuwa Sirisena was a small-time businessman in the village who also performed traditional Sri Lankan folk dramas and his mother Punchi Nona was a housewife. After having his primary education at the village school Pussellawa Maha Vidyalaya, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Tholangamuwa Central College in 1963. He has two younger brothers and two sisters.
After his school education, Sirisena moved to Colombo to join the Sri Lanka Railways as a Special Apprentice in 1969. While establishing his career as an actor in theater, Sirisena went to Oman in 1970 to work as a quantity surveyor for two years. After returning home, he worked as a technical officer at the Victoria Dam project. Then he went back abroad in 1979 and returned to Sri Lanka in 1984.
Before 1971, he was an activist and continuously attended to the meetings conducted by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. But as the party entered the process of armed struggle, he quit from politics. He has obtained B.A degree of Social Sciences from Open University of Sri Lanka and then completed M.A degree from University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
He is married to Leela Sirisena. The couple have two sons, Prabhath and Nanditha.

Illness

In May 2012, Sirisena was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Colombo National Hospital due to sudden illness and fever. Since then, he has had difficulties with walking. He is currently taking physiotherapy treatments.
Since 2012 Sirisena has not taken part in any productions due to illness.

Acting career

Theater

At Tholangamuwa, he studied under Ariyawansa Ranaweera, Jayasumana Dissanayake, Daya Alwis and Wijayaratne Athurupane who were scholars and artists that had a major influence on Sri Lankan theater and arts for many decades. In 1967 Sirisena played the lead role in the stage drama Girikutha which was selected to the final round of State School Drama Festival.
In 1969, he joined the first batch of students of the theater school Ranga Shilpa Shalika at Lionel Wendt Art Centre founded by Dhamma Jagoda with the help of Daya Alwis. His first role on the public stage was the role of "Dionis" in the play Moodu Puththu, which also marked the first appearance of popular cinema actor Ravindra Randeniya. He acted in many stage dramas of the 1970s.
After returning to Sri Lanka in 1984, Sirisena was involved in Thilak Gunawardena's dramas. He acted in the plays Sapatheru Hamine by Miyuri Samarasinghe and then in Meepura Wasiyo by Somaratne Dissanayake. After completing the studies, he joined the drama group of Ediriweera Sarachchandra and acted in renowned stage dramas such as Maname, Sinhabahu, Bavakadaturawa, Mahasara and Kada walalu.
In 1993, Sirisena won the Best Actor award for the role in Kadathurawa at State Drama Festival. In 2002, he formed a drama school called "Siwuranga". He was able to produce four batches of students from that academy. Thereafter he worked as an instructor at the Tower Hall Academy in Colombo.

Notable stage dramas

Sirisena's first teledrama was Sihina Nimnaya, produced by Sri Lanka Rupavahini in 1985. He gained wide acclaim for his second teledrama Kumarihami, another Rupavahini production, where he played the supporting role of Hicchi Mahattaya. Since then he has acted in more than 40 teleseries. His role as "Isaa" in critically acclaimed serial Charitha Thunak is a hallmark of his television career.
During his illness, he was working with two television serials - Sepalika and Boralu Paara.

Selected serials

His maiden cinema acting came through the role of "Upali" in the 1976 film Dhululu Malak. He has also acted on many critically notable films such as Saptha Kanya, Yakada Pihatu, Uppalawanna, Samanala Thatu and Ira Handa Yata.

Filmography

YearNo.FilmRole
1976344Duhulu MalakUpali
1980454Dandu MonaraPunchi Mahaththaya
1993770Guru GedaraWedding guest
1993782Saptha KanyaSarath
20031016Yakada PihatuWilson 'Aiyya'
20041038Gini Kirilli
20051247Udugan Yamaya
20051054Samanala ThatuSoththi Martin
20071090UppalawannaVeda Mahaththaya
20071109Pitasakwala Kumarayai Pancho Hathai
20101144Ira Handa YataTrader
20111160GamaniSchool teacher
20131185Bomba Saha RosaMinister Daya

Awards and Honors

State Tele Awards Festival, Sri Lanka

Sumathi Tele Awards, Sri Lanka

Signis Awards, Sri Lanka

Raigam Awards, Sri Lanka