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Thotawattege Don Manuel Titus de Silva (Sinhala:ටයිටස් තොටවත්ත), popularly as Titus Thotawatte, was a Sri Lankan director and editor who made several popular Sri Lankan action movies in the 1960s and 1970s and later developed Sinhala children's programmes. Thotawatte died on 15 October 2011 in Colombo.[2]

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Titus Thotawatte
Born	Thotawattege Don Manuel Titus de Silva 17 April 1927 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Died	15 October 2011(2011-10-15) (aged 84)
Alma mater	Ananda College, Colombo, Heywood Institute of Art[1]
Occupation	film director, screenwriter, editor

Early life

He was born on 17 April 1927 in Colombo.[3] He was the fourth child in a family of five children, with 3 elder brothers and one younger sister. He attended Ananda College in Colombo and studied art under J.D.A. Perera and Stanley Abeysinghe and Matara Technical College.

Career

Thottawatte joined Lester James Peries and Willie Blake[4] as editor to make Rekava in 1956.[5] It was an attempt to make a truly Sinhalese movie in contrast with the Southern Indian copies then in vogue.

Thottawatte debuted as a director with Chandiya in 1965. The film starred Gamini Fonseka in the first villains role of Sinhala Cinema.[6] Other early films include Kauda Hari (1969), Thewatha (1970) and Haralaksaya (1971).[7]

In 1980,Thotawatte wrote and directed the children's movie Handaya,[7] which was awarded Best Picture at the Sarasaviya Film Festival.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he dubbed English cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, Doctor Dolittle and Top Cat into Sinhala for Sinhalese audiences with the popular titles Ha Ha Hari Hawa, Dosthara Honda Hitha and Pissu Pusa respectively. He is considered to be the pioneer of dubbing programmes in Sri Lanka. These continue to air on Sinhala Television channels. Thotawatte created puppet characters like Eluson.

When the first National Media Awards took place in Sri Lanka, Thotawatte, was awarded a gold medal for his contribution to television and media in Sri Lanka.

Filmography

Year	Film	Roles	Ref.
1956	Rekava	Film Editor
1960	Sandesaya	Film Editor
1962	Daskon	Film Editor, Technical Advisor
1962	Ranmuthu Duwa	Film Editor
1964	Getawarayo	Film Editor
1964	Dheewarayo	Film Editor
1965	Saaravita	Film Editor
1965	Chandiya	Director, Screenwriter, Film Editor	[8]
1966	Parasathu Mal	Film Editor	[9]
1967	Sorungeth Soru	Film Editor
1967	Vasanthi	Film Editor
1968	Punchi Baba	Film Editor
1969	Baduth Ekka Horu	Film Editor
1969	Hanthane Kathawa	Film Editor	[10]
1969	Kawuda Hari	Director, Film Editor
1970	Thevetha	Director, Screenwriter, Film Editor
1971	Haaralakshe	Director, Screenwriter, Film Editor	[11]
1972	Atheethayen Kathawak	Assistant Director, Film Editor
1974	Sihasuna	Director, Film Editor, Producer
1974	Sagarika	Director, Film Editor
1975	Sikuruliya	Film Editor
1976	Mangala	Director, Screenwriter, Film Editor
1977	Maruwa Samaga Wase	Eddie. Director, Film Editor
1979	Handaya	Director, Screenwriter, Film Editor

References

External links

• Titus Thotawatte at IMDb

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