Nalaka Withanage
නාලක විතානගේ
Born16 February 1982
Colombo
NationalitySri Lankan
EducationNalanda College Colombo UNITECH INTERNATIONAL, Auckland
OccupationFilm Director
Years active2004–present
Height6 ft
ChildrenUththara Iduwari Withanage
Parent
  • Bandula Withanage (father)
RelativesYashoda Wimaladharma (Cousin)

Nalaka Vithanage is a filmmaker of Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television.[1] He is the son of popular dramatist Bandula Withanage.[2]

Personal life

Nalaka was born on 16 February. He was educated at Nalanda College Colombo and has been keenly interested and involved with his passion for stage and teledrama creations and film making while at school.[3] He completed his higher studies in commerce and business studies.[4] In 2001 he went New Zealand for further studies. He returned Sri Lanka in 2004.[5]

His father Bandula Vithanage was a renowned dramatist in Sri Lanka who had a career that spanned for more than five decades.[6] Vithanage is one of the earliest pillars of Sri Lankan art and drama,[7] where he is the pioneer to introduce Shakespearean theater to Sri Lankan theater with several plays such as Veniciye Velenda, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.[8] He died on 1 September 2014 at Colombo National Hospital at the age of 73.[9][10] Nalaka has one sister, Vajirakumari Vithanage.[11]

His cousin sister Yashoda Wimaladharma is a popular actress in Sri Lanka cinema, theater and television.[12]

Career

During his higher education, Nalaka joined the stage plays produced by his father such as Veniceye Velenda, Senehebara Dolly and Romaya Gini Gani.[4] In 2004, he made his maiden stage drama production Rathri Bojanaya. The play was based on the French play ‘Don’t Dress for dinner’ of Mark Camollte and translated by his father. Then he made three more stage dramas: Kasi Malla (2006), Upanda Maranaya (2009),[13] and Breaking News.[5] The play Kasi Mallaentered last round of the State Drama festival in that year and won a Merit award for the Best Actor. Meanwhile he also made the script of the television serials Dekona Gini and Allapu Gedara which were aired in Swarnavahini.[3]

In 2012, he made his debut cinema direction Anithya, a romantic drama.[14] In the same year, Nalaka made the post-war thriller film Roopantharana, which was later released in 2014.[15][16][17] In 2013, he started his third cinema direction with the title Agni Warsha.[18] However, after completing the shooting, the film was renamed as Nilanjana. Shooting was completed in 2014.[19] The film was screened in 2017.[20]

In 2017, he made the romantic film Sarungal which was screened at the MPI theaters in 2018.[21][22] The film received mixed reviews from critics.[23] In 2019, he directed the action film Ethalaya where he was also the screenwriter of the film.[24] The film was released in 2020 in the midst of Corona outbreak.[25][26]

Directed filmography

YearFilmRef.
2013Anithya[27]
2014Rupantharana[28]
2017Nilanjana[29]
2018Sarungal[30]
2020Ethalaya[31]
TBDHola[32][33]

General references

  1. ↑ "Nalaka Withanage". Digital Identity of Sinhala Cinema. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  2. ↑ "Veteran dramatist no more". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  3. 1 2 "Birthday meets death!". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  4. 1 2 "'Upanda Maranaya' comes alive". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  5. 1 2 "Father and son comments on "Breaking News"". Divaina. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  6. ↑ "Veteran dramatist no more". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "Unforgettables". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  8. ↑ "Veteran Vithanage to be felicitated". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  9. ↑ "Bandula Vithanage passes away". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  10. ↑ "Pioneering Artiste Bandula Vithanage No More". Asian Mirror. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  11. ↑ "Dad who said life was beautiful has now left us : Vajirakumari Vithanage". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  12. ↑ "'Butterfly Symphony' gives wings to Yashodha". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  13. ↑ "Comedy with a difference". Sunday Observer. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  14. ↑ "Anithya is a different love story - Director Nalaka Vithanage". Divaina. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  15. ↑ "The FORCE is with us". Daily News. Archived from the original on 2014-05-27. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  16. ↑ "A vision mission". Daily News. Archived from the original on 2014-05-27. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  17. ↑ "Showing the cruelty of the LTTE terrorists 'Transformation' to the international If it can be carried ...... - Nalaka Vithanage". Divaina. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  18. ↑ "Agni Warsha Muhurath ceremony". Sunday Observer. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  19. ↑ "I have not cheated". Dinamina. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  20. ↑ "I did not leave Nilanjana but did not work with the producer again - Nalaka Vithanage". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  21. ↑ "Sarungal made by Nalaka Vithanage will be released on the 12th". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  22. ↑ "Sarungal was made for the family to see - Nalaka Vithanage". Dinamina. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  23. ↑ "Fifteen minutes is enough". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  24. ↑ "The arrow on the Silk Road". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  25. ↑ "Ethalaya coming soon". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  26. ↑ "Screened movies in 2020". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  27. ↑ "Anithya: Tale on Eternal love". Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  28. ↑ "A response to diaspora's malignant machinations". Sunday Observer. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  29. ↑ "Who is She? Nilanjana". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  30. ↑ "Sarungal: Isolated in a fantasy world". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  31. ↑ "The standard purpose of an abusive young woman: Ethalaya". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  32. ↑ "Sarungale: Isolated in a fantasy world". Sarasaviya. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  33. ↑ "Hola coming to the cinema". Divaina. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
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