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Bandu Munasinghe
බන්දු මුණසිංහ
Born	Munasinghe Arachchilage Don Bandu (1936-03-16)16 March 1936 Borella, Sri Lanka
Died	5 February 2005(2005-02-05) (aged 68) Embilipitiya, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Education	Hewavitharana College, Rajagiriya Nalanda College, Colombo
Occupation(s)	Actor, Stunt Director
Years active	1958–1987
Spouse	Jayanthi Munasinghe (m. 1967)

Munasinghe Arachchilage Don Bandu (16 March 1936 – 5 February 2005 as බන්දු මුණසිංහ ), popularly as Bandu Munasinghe, was an actor, and stunt director of Sri Lankan cinema. Particularly acted in cinema in villain roles, Munasinghe was the first stunt director of the Sri Lankan silver screen.

Personal life

He was born on 16 March 1936 in Borella. He first studied at Hewavitharana College, Rajagiriya and his secondary education at Nalanda College, Colombo. He excelled as a boxer. Because of this, he joined the army for a while after school and showed boxing skills.

He was married to Jayanthi Munasinghe where the wedding was celebrated on 16 March 1967.

Munasinghe, who had been a movie star for thirty-five years, suddenly fell ill in 1993. He went to Embilipitiya in Ratnapura where one of his leg was amputated. He died on 5 February 2005 at the age of 69.

Career

In 1958, he was invited in perform stunts to a film by M.P. Gilman and M.P. Gemunu, both stuntmen. They informed Munasinghe to be at Kiribathgoda Sirisena Wimalaweera's Nawajeevana studio at about 10 am. In Nawajeevana studio, he performed his maiden cinematic appearance in the film Ma Ale Kala Tharuniya. The second movie starring Munasinghe as a stuntman was Gilman's 1961 directorial hit Wedibima. Then he acted in the films, Daskon, Wena Swargayak Kumatada, Deepashika and Getawarayo. In 1965, he was selected for a villain role for the first time in his career in the film Saaravita. Later, he played as the stuntman in the films such as Dheewarayo, Satha Panaha, Sweep Ticket and Daru Duka.

He continued to work as the henchman in several movies for major villain characters most notably in the films, Surayangeth Suraya, Edath Suraya Adath Suraya, Hathara Denama Surayo, Singapore Charlie, Suli Sulang and Hitha Honda Minihek. His major breakthrough in cinema came through as the stunt director in the 1964 film Sithaka Mahima directed by M. S. Ananda. However, his first character role came through the film Tharangaa directed by Sena Dayananda. In the 1975 film Rajagedara Paraviyo by Sathischandra Edirisinghe, Munasinghe along with fellow stuntman Alexander Fernando created good realistic fight scenes.

He is also a skilled sword fight expert. He learned about sword fighting from Gamini Fonseka and H. D. Kulatunga. Among the characters played by Munasinghe were the scenes where the lead actress was tortured most notably in the film Awa Soya Adare. In the 1970s, he played the character roles of Agra Sajeewani and Manel Wanaguru in the films Sugandhi (1979) and Tharangaa (1975) respectively.

Filmography & Stunt Coordination

References

1. "Bandu Munasinghe filmography". Digital Identity of Sinhala Cinema. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
2. "Bandu Munasinghe films". IMDb. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
3. ^ "First Stunt Director of Sinhala Cinema". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
4. ^ "Unforgettable". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
5. "Fatal jumps in Sinhala cinema". Lankadeepa. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
6. "All about the film "Ohoma Hondada"". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
7. "All about the film Susee". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
8. "Chin Chin Nona, who came before Tom Pachaya". sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
9. "Siripala and Ranmenika highlighted the poetic mind of the misguided man". sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-01-23.

External links

• රොබින් ප්‍රනාන්දු ඇලුම් කළ අපේ සිනමාවේ සටන් නළුවන් හත් දෙනෙක්

• Sri Lankan male film actors
• 1936 births
• 2005 deaths
• Stunt performers
• Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo