Sunil Ariyaratne

He was born on 28 July 1949, in Nugegoda as the fourth child of the family with six siblings.^[5] He completed his Primary and Secondary education at St. John's College, Nugegoda. He has three brothers and two sisters. His brother, Nimal Kuruwita Bandara, is a lawyer and another brother, Thilakaratne Kuruwita Bandara is a journalist and editor.^[6]

He sat for the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level in 1963. After passing the senior examination, he was selected to Vidyodaya Pirivena (currently known as University of Sri Jayewardenepura) for higher studies. In 1971, he obtained a Sinhala Honours Degree (First Class).^[7]

He worked as a temporary lecturer at the University of Kelaniya in 1972. Thereafter, he served as a part-time lecturer at The Department of Aesthetics studies at the Kelaniya University from 1975-76. He moved to University of Jaffna as a Lecturer of Sinhala in 1976 and worked as a lecturer for three years.^[6] Then he returned to Kelaniya as an Assistant Lecturer on permanant basis. In 1985, Ariyaratne joined the academic staff at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, where he was promoted as an Assistant Professor and was conferred as Professor in 1994.

In 1989 he traveled to Madras to study Tamil. In 2000, he was promoted as a Senior Professor of Sinhala Language and Mass Media in the Communication Faculty, becoming the youngest to achieve the feat in the Sri Lanka university system.^[7][8]

In 2011, he was awarded Doctorate in Literature from Kelaniya University. In 2015, he was honored with second Doctorate in Literature in recognition of his contributions in the field of literature and the arts.^[9][10]

At the age of 11, he wrote a school play named Amal Biso. Then, in 1961 at the age of 16, Ariyaratne published a collection of short stories called Ähinsakayo.^[6] In 1963, he wrote a collection of poems called 'Api Okkoma', a historical novel, 'Alakeshwara', in 1964 and a poetic tale, 'Siyothunta Rekawal', in 1965. He also produced the play, 'Deyyo', which was written by his elder brother Thilakaratne Kuruwita Bandara.^[7]

While as an undergraduate at Vidyodaya in 1969, Ariyaratne polished his ability where he wrote a novel, 'Jeewithaya Geethayak Wewa'. After graduating in 1971, he published a poetry book, 'Dolosmahe Pahana' along with two of his closest friends Buddadasa Galappaththi and Jayalath Manoratne. He wrote several lyrics such as Pahan Kanda (1983), Yathra (1984), Pembara lanka (1990), Madhu Badun (1994), Adaheraya (2004) and Shwetha Rathriya (2012).^[7]

Ariyaratne is an accomplished lyricist who wrote several songs for popular artists such as Nanda Malini, W.D. Amaradeva and Victor Rathnayake.^[11] Some popular lyrics made by him include: Me guru pare, Podiduwage sina welai, Buddhanu Bhawena, Oba themei kiya bayyai, Api ethata ethata pa nagala, Viyo ge gayana, Yalu bala sande and Ane kurulu kooduwata gahanna ape.^[4][12]

In 1970, Ariyaratne extended his repertoire towards cinema, by producing his first short film Sara Gee and subsequently another short film, Dushkara Kriya six years later in 1976. His maiden feature length direction came through 1978 feature film Anupama.^[7] With the help of Ranjith Palansuriya, Ariyaratne produced two blockbuster films, Sarungale (1979) and Siribo Aiya (1980).^[6]

As an author, he won a State Literary Award for the book on Baila and Kapirigngna. In 1985, he wrote several research papers and publications on "Gramophone Era", "Kerol Pasam Kantharu", "Mahinda Prabanda", "Manawasinghe Geetha Prabanda", "Purana Sinhala Nadagam", "Gandarwa Apadana", "Sinhala Chithrapati Geethawali". In 1991, he wrote book Demala Sahithya Ithihasaya and then translated Tamil folktale Ramayanaya in 1994.^[4] He also translated the Garcia Lorca's play Yerma along with Ediriweera Sarachchandra.^[13]

In 2002, he directed the dramatic movie Sudu Sewaneli. The film won the Sarasaviya award for the Best Director and President's Medal for the Best Script of that year.^[14]

In 2008, he released a volume Visithuruya Re Ahasa which contained all his lyrics written for films, teleplays, social events such as the Tsunami devastation, light songs for radio, cassettes and CDs.

He directed the film Uppalavanna in 2008 which was based on a reinterpreted Buddhist story similar to a Theri gatha story.^[13] The film was a blockbuster of that year and won several awards at local film festivals including Most Popular Actress, Best Actress and Music Direction.^[15] However, the movie received primarily negative reviews.^[16][17] Many criticized the various unnecessary characters in the movie (which do not have any role in the plot), the editing, and acting.

In 2012, he directed the film Kusa Pabha based on the 523rd story "Kusa Jataka" in the Jataka story series.^[18] The film won 12 awards at the 2013 Derana Lux Film Festival including popular actor, actress, movie, music direction, and singer.^[19]

In 2018, Ariyarante directed a historical story of Bimba Devi Alias Yashodara. It was screened on 26 April, at 85 cinema halls becoming the biggest number of the simultaneous screening in Sri Lanka.^[20] The film received mostly positive reviews from the critics.^[4]

In 2019, he directed the blockbuster film Vijayaba Kollaya which was released on 1 August in 80 cinema halls across the island. The film was an adaptation of W.A. Silva's novel of the same name.^[21][22] The film received positive reviews.^[23][24]

On 17 March 2020, he launched the second volume of Gandharwa Apadana which is a collection of 6 books written on 12 musicians.^[25]

• 1996 Sumathi Awards – Best Television Lyrics award for Sankranthi Samaya^[26]
• 2002 Sarasaviya Awards – Best Film award for Sudu Sewaneli
• 2004 Sumathi Awards – Best Television Lyrics award for Ramya Suramya
• 2010 Sumathi Awards – U.W. Sumathipala memorial award^[27]
• 2011 Raigam Tele'es – Best Television Lyrics award^[28]
• 2018 Hiru Golden Film Awards – Best Lyrics award for Paththini^[29]
• 2019 Derana Sunsilk Film Awards – Blockbuster Movie of the Year award for Bimba Devi Alias Yashodhara^[30]