Dharmasiri Gamage ( si, ධර්මසිරි ගමගේ) (4 October 1939 - 19 September 2004) was a journalist, poet, writer and film director.

Biography

Dharmasiri Gamage was born on 4 October 1939, the only son to Maththaka Gamage Peter Appuhamy and Kalegana Arachchige Chandrawathi and the eldest brother to three sisters.

Journalism

Gamage's journalism career was helped by ''U.A.A. Perera (Siri Aiya)'' Growing up, Gamage was interested in arts and literature and wanted to learn and practice

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

. For him, ''Maligakanda Maha Bodhi Mandiraya'' was an oasis and influence of ''Siri Aiya'' was a lamp-post that guided his future life. Gamage became a journalist joining ''Lankadeepa'' as a sub-editor in 1959 on an invitation of K. M. Sirisena who was the deputy editor of the Sinhala daily ''The Lankadeepa'' (then owned by the Times, Sri Lanka). He joined ''Lake House'' in 1977 and worked for ''

Dinamina Dinamina ( si, දිනමිණ) is a Sinhala language daily newspaper in Sri Lanka. It is published by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (Lake House), a government-owned corporation. The newspaper commenced publishing in 1909. It was f ...

, Janatha '' and ''

Silumina Silumina ( si, සිළුමිණ) is a Sinhala language weekly newspaper in Sri Lanka. It is published by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (Lake House), a government-owned corporation. The newspaper commenced publishing in March 30 ...

''. Gamage's ''Pahan Weta'' which was compiled weekly on ''Yovun Janatha'' was a publication of ''Lake House'' it became famous as an early youth forum.

Music career

Gamage wrote his first lyrics ''Ho Mage Prema Matha'' in 1955 for ''

Kala Suri The Kala Suri ( si, කලා සූරී; ta, கலாசூரி, translit=Kalācūri) is a Sri Lankan national honour awarded "''for special contributions to the development of the arts''". It is conventionally used as a title or prefix to ...

G.S.B. Rani Perera'' who was a veteran singer in Sri Lanka and a programme producer of then

Radio Ceylon Radio Ceylon ( si, ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සේවය ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', ta, இலங்கை வானொலி, ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first ...

(''Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation'') when he was just 16 years old. Gamage has written many more than 200 lyrics for Sinhala songs with music composed by music directors like Pandith

W.D. Amaradeva Sri Lankabhimanya Wannakuwattawaduge Don Albert Perera ( si, වන්නකුවත්තවඩුගේ දොන් ඇල්බට් පෙරේරා; ta, டபிள்யூ. டி. அமரதேவா; 5 December 1927 – 3 Nov ...

Premasiri Khemadasa Deshamanya Kala Keerthi Dr.Premasiri Khemadasa ( Sinhala: ආචාර්ය ප්‍රේමසිරි කේමදාස ) (25 January 1937 – 24 October 2008) also known as "Khemadasa Master" was a Sri Lankan music composer. Exploring ...

and

Rohana Weerasinghe DR. Rohana Weerasinghe (born February 18, 1949), is a Sri Lankan musician, composer and singer. Early life Weerasinghe was born on 18 February 1949 in Algiriya, Matara in southern Sri Lanka. He was the youngest child to his parents Henry Weer ...

and performed by various artists like Kala Suri G.S.B. Rani Perera, Pandith W.D. Amaradeva and Isharada

Nanda Malini Mirihana Arachchige Nanda Malini Perera ( Sinhala:නන්දා මාලනී: born 23 August 1943), popularly as Nanda Malini, is a Sri Lankan songstress and playback singer. One of the best known and most honored singers of Sri Lanka, Malin ...

, and Haroon Lanthra.

Cinema

Gamage was a film director for the Sinhala film ''Puja'' in 1986 Award winners

Joe Abeywickrama Deshabandu Gammana Patabendige Don John Abeywickrama ( Sinhala:ජෝ අබේවික්‍රම) (22 June 1927 – 21 September 2011), popularly as Joe Abeywickrama, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. Initially famed ...

and

Amarasiri Kalansuriya Amarasiri Kalansuriya, (born 20 September 1940: si, අමරසිරි කලංසූරිය), popularly known as Kalan, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television. Kalansuriya made his first film appearance alongside Vijaya ...

contributed to it in action. Gamage wrote scripts to

Dharmasena Pathiraja Pathiraja Navaratne Wanninayake Mudiyanselage Ranjith Dharmasena (28 March 1943 – 28 January 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director and screenwriter. He has been referred to as a 'rebel with a cause', an ‘''enfant terrible'' of the '70s', and ...

's ''Eya Dan Loku Lamayek'' (1977),

Amaranath Jayathilake Amaranath Jayathilake ( si, අමරනාත් ජයතිලක; 20 May 1937 – 25 September 2013), was a journalist, writer and filmmaker in Sri Lankan cinema. Personal life Jayathilake was born on 20 May 1937 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. O ...

's ''Siripala Saha Ranmenika'' (1977) and

Sunil Ariyaratne Vidyodaya Vibhushana Sahithya Kala Shiromani Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne Kuruwita Bandara (born 28 July 1949 as සුනිල් ආරියරත්න), popularly as Sunil Ariyaratne, is a Sri Lankan scholar, film director, author, poet and a l ...

's ''Sarungale'' (1980). He wrote "Sansara Gamane Thanha Asha" music composed by Premasiri Khemadasa and sung by Pandith W.D. Amaradva for the film ''Sanasuma Kothanada'' in 1963.

Later Years

After his retirement from Lake House, he was a traveller and published his experiences. Gamage was well known as environment-lover and was honoured for his writings in 1999 as the Best Travel Writer and in 2002 received an award by the Sri Lanka Environmental Journalist Forum for the Best Travel Writer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamage, Dharmasiri 1939 births 2004 deaths Sri Lankan journalists People from Galle People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan film directors Sinhalese people Sri Lankan lyricists 20th-century journalists