Bandu Munasinghe

Munasinghe Arachchilage Don Bandu (16 March 1936 – 5 February 2005 as බන්දු මුණසිංහ inhala, 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 to perform stunts to a film by M.P. Gilman and M.P. Gemunu, both are stuntmen. They informed Munasinghe to be at Kiribathgoda Sirisena Wimalaweera's Nawajeevana studio 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 1970s, he played the character roles with Agra Sajeewani and Manel Wanaguru in the films ''Sugandhi'' (1979) and ''Tharangaa'' (1975) respectively.

Filmography & Stunt Coordination

References

External links

රොබින් ප්‍රනාන්දු ඇලුම් කළ අපේ සිනමාවේ සටන් නළුවන් හත් දෙනෙක්

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munasinghe, Bandu
Sri Lankan male film actors
Sinhalese male actors
1936 births
2005 deaths
Stunt performers
Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo