Bandusena Samarasinghe, popularly known as Bandu , is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema and television. He entered the film industry in 1971 with :si:සදහටම ඔබ මගේ|Sadahatama Oba Mage. As an actor, singer, director, and producer, Bandu was a popular comedy actor throughout the 1980s-2000s, revolutionizing cinema history with his slapstick comedy roles with the late Freddie Silva and comic duo partner Tennyson Cooray. He starred in Rodaya, Pemmal Mala, Left Right Sir, and Peeter One. His most promising and blockbuster acting was in the Re Daniel Dawal Migel and Cheerio film series and Somy Boys and Parliament Jokes.
Personal life
Bandu was on born on 23 November 1955 in a family of five children. His father Kegalle Podi Mahaththya was a mechanic and his mother Lellagaha Goda Iskole Hamine was a teacher. His preschool education came through St. Savior Convent and secondary education by St. Mary's College, Kegalle. He is a B-grade singer in Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.
Career as an actor
Starting as early as 1971 at the age of 17 or so, Bandu started his cinema career with Sadahatama Oba Mage. He acted in slapstick comedies along with Freddie Silva in the 1980s. He acted in more than 98 Sri Lankan films up to 2018. Almost 95 percent of the films were comedies and very few were dramas. He started stage drama career with the playNo Problem directed by Nilanthi Dhammika and produced by Niroshan Devapriya. Its maiden show was staged at Nithyanjal in Kandana on February 26, 2000.' Bandu Samarasinghe and Tennyson Coorey were able to build a formidable combination as comedians and both of them act number of films together. He acted iconic roles in Sinhala Cinema such as "Daniel" in Ra Daniel Dawal Migel, "Marmite" in Cheerio Doctor and "Ikke Karolis" in political comedy Parliament Jokes. He was awarded as the best actor in Derana-Lux Film Awards 2019.
As a director
Before his comedy partner, Tennyson Cooray moved to direction in 2013, Bandu started to showcase his talents in direction. His first direction film Rodaya released in 1995 and gained much attraction.
Television
His first teledrama acting came under his own direction, through Dara Garaj. And he acted few teledramas like Roy de Silva's Tarzan Ape Man, Giriraj Kaushalya's Nana Kamare, Sikuru Lanthe and Nishantha Weerasinghe's Dankuda Banda. His first "Bandu Live In Concert" was held on 10 July 2005 and after 11 years, he performed his next Bandu Live In Concert on 27 August 2016 at BMICH. Bandu along with Tennyson and Yureni Noshika acted as hosts for Hiru Mega Starseason 2.
