Junius Richard Jayewardene, commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the second President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in the 1977 parliamentary elections and served as prime minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.
Radio Ceylon is a radio station based in Sri Lanka and the first radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis by the colonial Telegraph Department in 1923, just four years after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe.
Batticaloa is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka and is a major commercial centre. It is on the east coast, 111 kilometres (69 mi) south of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island. Pasikudah is a popular tourist destination situated 35 km (22 mi) northwest with beaches and flat year-round warm-water shallow-lagoons.
Mass media of Sri Lanka consist of several different types of communications media: television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and Web sites. State and private media operators provide services in the main languages Sinhala, Tamil and English. The government owns two major TV stations, radio networks operated by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), and newspaper titles in Sinhala, Tamil, and English.
Kala Keerthi Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka was a Sri Lankan film actor, film director and politician. Often considered as the greatest actor in Sinhala cinema, Fonseka dominated the industry in 1960s and 1970s and won several Best Actor and Popular Actor awards throughout his career. Apart from acting, he also served as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1994 and the Governor of the North Eastern Province from 1995 to 1998.
Sri Lankan cinema encompasses the Sri Lankan film industry. It is a fledgling industry that has struggled to find a footing since its inauguration in 1947 with Kadawunu Poronduwa produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone. Sri Lankan films are usually made in Sinhala and Tamil, the dominant languages of the country.
Sarasaviya Awards is an award bestowed to distinguished individuals involved with the Sinhala cinema, each year by the Sarasaviya weekly newspaper in collaboration with the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, Sri Lanka in recognition of the contributions made by them to the Sri Lankan film industry. The Sarasaviya ceremony is one of the oldest film events in Sri Lanka. The awards were first introduced in 1964. The Sarasaviya Awards have been often referred to as the Sinhala Cinema industry's equivalent to The Oscars.
Kumara Vidugalage Dona Geetha Samanmalee Kumarasinghe, popularly known as Geetha Kumarasinghe, is a Sri Lankan film actress & politician. She previously served as a Member of a Parliament as well as being the State Minister of Women and Child Affairs from 2022 to 2024.
Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a neighbourhood in Chennai, and Hollywood.
Tamil cinema in Sri Lanka is not as developed as Sinhala cinema or its Indian counterpart, the Tamil cinema of Kodambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This is especially due to the high production rates of the influential commercial Tamil films from Tamil Nadu, India and the long run ethnic civil war in Sri Lanka. Tamils contributed significantly to Sinhala cinema as well as Indian Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood. Only a few Tamil language films were produced in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Earlier Tamil movies produced were all most destroyed or unrecovered due to civil war.
Chathurartha Devadithya Gardiyawasam Lindamulage Roy Aloysius Felix de Silva, popularly known as Roy de Silva, was a Sri Lankan actor and film director in Sri Lankan cinema. He entered the film industry as an actor in 1964 with Sujage Rahasa, directed by Palaniyaandi Neelakantan. He later moved towards cinema directing, becoming one of the most successful film makers in the Sri Lankan film industry. His blockbuster movies such as Re Daniel Dawal Migel series, Cheriyo series, Clean Out, and Sir Last Chance were economically successful and made hallmarks in the industry.
Komaali Kings is a 2018 Sri Lankan Tamil language black comedy thriller film written and directed by King Ratnam in his directorial debut and co-produced by Ganesh Deivanayagam, Bawadharani Rajasingham, and R. Selvaskandan for Picture This Motions. The film, starring Raja Ganeshan, Kamala Sri Mohan, Darshan Dharmaraj, Gajan Kanesshan, Niranjani Shanmugaraja, Sathiyapriya Ratnasaamy, and King Ratnam in the lead roles, opened to positive reviews among the audience after the first day. The film also received praise from critics for its satire and comedy storyline.
King Ratnam is a Sri Lankan actor and film director. He is regarded as a talented film-maker in the nation, as he has directed numerous advertisements, short films, and documentary films. He played a key role in the production of a Sri Lankan made Tamil language feature-length film after 40 years in Sri Lankan Tamil cinema history as the director of the film titled, Komaali Kings. His attempt to rekindle and re-establish nostalgic memories of the hay days of Sri Lankan Tamil cinema is set to be one of the turning points in Sri Lanka's resilience from the lost glory in the Tamil cinema industry.
Sundaram Mathura-Nayagam was a pioneer of Sinhala cinema, producing the first ever Sinhala talkie, Kadawunu Poronduwa.
Daya Wimalaweera [Sinhala]), was a director in Sri Lankan cinema and stage drama. He was also a cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and editor.
M.S. Parthasarathy or M.S.P. Sarathi was an Indian film editor, director, and producer. He is nick named as "Japan" due to his hard working nature. He was closely associated with H.M. Reddy and worked numerous movies with him as an editor. He directed Telugu movie Errakota Veerudu (1973) with NT Rama Rao in the lead role. He edited Bhakta Kanakadasa (1960), with Dr. Rajkumar in the lead role which marked the official 100th film in Sandalwood (Kannada) film industry. He also edited Vaddante Dabbu with NT Rama Rao in the lead role.
Berty Seneviratne, popularly known by stage name Shanthi Kumar was an actor, filmmaker and choreographer in Sri Lankan cinema. Considered one of the three pioneer film directors in Sinhala cinema, he made the first talkie film of Sri Lankan film history. He has gone down in history as a dancer who amazed India and was honored by an Indian governor.
Kumarasinghe Rajapakse, popularly known as Kingsley Rajapakse was a film director and actor in Sri Lankan cinema.
Peragaswatte Liyana Acharige Somapala, popularly known as P. L. A. Somapala was a Sri Lankan singer, musician and playback singer in Sri Lankan cinema. One of the earliest pillars in Sinhala classical songs, Somapala made several contributions to early Sinhala cinema as a playback singer and music director along with his wife Chithra Somapala.
Kanagasabai Gunaratnam, popularly known as K. Gunaratnam was a prolific film producer in Sri Lankan cinema. Started his film producing career during post-independent Ceylon, Gunaratnam is the pioneer to establish two Sinhala film studios: 'Cinemas Limited' and 'Vijaya Studios', where he produced more than 20 blockbuster and commercial movies.
