Bandu Munasinghe

Munasinghe Arachchilage Don Bandu (16 March 1936 – 5 February 2005 as බන්දු මුණසිංහ [Sinhala]), popularly known as Bandu Munasinghe, was an actor, and stunt director of Sri Lankan cinema. Particularly acted in cinema in villain roles, Munasinghe was the first stunt director of the Sri Lankan silver screen.

Personal life He was born on 16 March 1936 in Borella. He first studied at Hewavitharana College, Rajagiriya and his secondary education at Nalanda College, Colombo. He excelled as a boxer. Because of this, he joined the army for a while after school and showed boxing skills.

Career In 1958, he was invited in perform stunts to a film by M.P. Gilman and M.P. Gemunu, both stuntmen. They informed Munasinghe to be at Kiribathgoda Sirisena Wimalaweera's Nawajeevana studio at about 10 am. In Nawajeevana studio, he performed his maiden cinematic appearance in the film Ma Ale Kala Tharuniya.

He is also a skilled sword fight expert. He learned about sword fighting from Gamini Fonseka and H. D. Kulatunga. Among the characters played by Munasinghe were the scenes where the lead actress was tortured most notably in the film Awa Soya Adare. In the 1970s, he played the character roles of Agra Sajeewani and Manel Wanaguru in the films Sugandhi (1979) and Tharangaa (1975) respectively.