Sena Samarasinghe

He was born on 13 April 1948 in Randeniya, Kegalle, British Ceylon as the eldest of the family.^[2] He received his primary education from Mahamaya Girls' College, Kandy and then from S. Thomas' College, Bandarawela.^[4] He completed his GCE Ordinary Level from S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa.^[5] During school times, he excelled in sports Tennis, volleyball, cricket, swimming as well as education.^[3]

His father was from Matara area and married a woman from the Rambukkana area and started an oil mill. His mother died when he was 13 years old. His father also got severely ill several times with heart failure, so focused on business at very young age.^[4] He had two younger sisters and two younger brothers.^[2]

Apart from cinema, he engaged as a businessman in the Rambukkana area with many businesses such as a tile factory, a garment factory, an engineering factory, an oil mill, a private bus service called Kegalle Tours.^[6] He was first married to Helpandeniya Walawwe Leela Samarakoon.^[4] The couple has two daughters and son. After his wife died, he married a second time where he has a daughter and a son from that marriage.^[2]

In 1971, his house was set on fire. So, he stayed with his family for a few days at the house of Stanley Abeyratne in Welisara, a friend from Lake House. After few months, he came back to Rambukkana and started his business.^[4]

After completing school education, he engaged with cinema under the guidance of his friend Gamini Fonseka. When he resided in Abeyratne's house, Sena used to visit studios and observed how films are made.^[4] During this period, he met Milton Jayawardena and told about his intentions to produce a film.^[2] In 1973, he became the producer of the blockbuster film Sadahatama Oba Mage directed by Milton Jayawardena.^[6] With the film, he introduced his nephew Bandu Samarasinghe to the cinema,^[7] where he later became a legend in comedy films as well as the musician Sarath Dassanayake.^[3][8]

His maiden film direction came through the film Kasthuri Suwanda in 1974,^[9] which became very popular.^[3] With that success, he directed the films in the same year Nilla Soya and Susee. With his film, he released several popular film songs such as “Bodhiye Viharaye”, “Hada Viman Dorin”, “Kendan Yannam Ran Mal Mala Daala” and “Nilla Nagana Swarna Kikini Rawe”.^[6] In 1978, he directed the film Asha Desin, where the film included five popular songs including, "Muwa Madahase", "Ananga Ran Gee", and "Vikasitha Pathuman". After that success, he then directed Mal Kekulu in 1980 and Chanchala Rekha in 1981.^[10][4] The film Chanchala Rekha made a hallmark in Sinhala film songs,^[2] where many popular songs were recorded for the film, such as: "Keena Dam Mitak", "Mee Amba Aththe Koho Koho" and "Hasa Kelum Udawe".^{[4][11][12][13][14]}

He later contributed with another song creations to Sri Lankan cinema through his films such as Aethin Aethata (1983), Yali Hamuwennai (1986) and Bambara Kalape (1991) including: "Kandam Yannam Ranmal", "Bodhiye Viharaye" and "Obai Matai Mawu". Meanwhile, he started to work with Pakistan as a co-producer to bring foreign exchange to the country and develop Sinhala cinema and made the films: Sadākal Oba Radēvā, Sinha Pataw (1986), Dōnkāraya (1987), Ayyā Nagō (1988), Sebaliyō (1989), Oṭṭuyi Bæruvaṭa (1993), Sāgara Peraḷiya (1998) and Okkoma Kapatiyo (1999).^[4][2] Almost all of his films were screened more than 100 days in theatres.^[15]

Other than film production, Samarasinghe also involved in producing cassettes.^[4]

In 2023, he was honored with Rana Thisara Award for the contribution to the Sinhala cinema.^[6][4] In September 2024, he was honored with cash prizes and award certificates at the 1st Award festival conducted by Ceylon Artists Council.^[16]

Sena Samarasinghe died on 29 January 2026 at the age of 88.^[17][18][19]