Sri Lankan film director (born 1981)

Udara Palliyaguruge is a Sri Lankan film director who has established himself in Sinhala cinema as the director of Super Six – a movie based on the trials and tribulations of a group of friends who dream of playing in a six-a-side cricket tournament. Shot on locations across Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and the Andaman Nicobar Islands, it is the Sri Lankan film shot on the largest budget to date.

Super Six premiered on 17 May 2012, achieved one of the best tickets sales to date in Sinhala commercial cinema, during its first week of screening. A Hindi version of Super Six also premiered simultaneously in Mumbai, India.

Contents

• 1 Early life and career
• 2 Career
• 3 Filmography
  • 3.1 International exposure
  • 3.2 Academic career
• 4 See also
• 5 References

Early life and career

Udara in his early days.

He was born to a family of two being the younger child of the family.

Udara was involved in stage drama at Gurukula College, Kelaniya and acted in dramas such as Oedipus (Sinhalese translation), Ratnawali, and No Kabuki plays (Sinhala translation). Later he was involved in the National Theatre as a stage manager, costume designer and actor in productions such as 'Bansi Marila Nehe', 'Ape Panthi Kamare' and 'Queenie'. After his schooling, Udara joined the National Film Ins*ute in Pune, India, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts in Film Making.

Udara later worked at Sirasa TV and MTV in Sri Lanka, where he produced and directed TV programmes such as Hindi Top Ten, Lasama, Subasiri, Eye-to-Eye, and Style.

Career

Director's Capture.

Udara has produced 4 full-length films: Super Six in 2012, 'Pani Makuluwo' in 2017, 'Sama *aru Kathawa' in 2019 and 'Soosthi' (yet to be released). He has also worked on two Teledramas as the producer: 'Thuthiri' (2018) and 'Crime Scenes' (2018). As managing director of Aristo Films, Udara has produced over 180 TV commercials (brands), 400 TV commercials (non-brands), 40 do*entaries and profiles. He is currently working as CEO of Guththila Strategic Solutions (Pvt) Ltd.

Filmography

International exposure

Udara has participated in numerous international advertising and communications programmes and awards ceremonies over the years, including:

• AD Asia 2005 to 08 – Singapore
• Broadcast Asia & Communic Asia 2005 – 2007 – Singapore
• Team Tech TV and Radio conference 2004 – 2007 – India

Academic career

• Visiting Lecturer – University of Kelaniya, Faculty of Marketing Management
• Director – Sri Lanka Television Training Ins*ute – http://www.slf.lk
• First to conduct film workshop in Jaffna in *ociation with Tharunayata Hetak, organised by the Government of Sri Lanka

See also

• Super Six
• Pani Makuluwo
• Sama *aru Kathawa
• Thuththiri (Teledrama)

References

1. Udara Palliyaguruge at the NFC
2. Udara Palliyaguruge at Films.lk
3. Super Six trailer on YouTube
4. Super Six on Facebook
5. "'Super Six' scores Rs. 10.5 million in first week" at The Island
6. "Sri Lankan Hot Film 'Super Six' Smashes Records on First Week" at Zimbio