Thisara Imbulana

Background

Thisara Imbulana is a producer, a playwright and a film director in Sri Lanka. He was born in 1984 and completed his education at The Mahanama College, Colombo.

Image 1: Thisara Imbulana.

He studied drama under Mahendra Perera, an actor who was also reported to appear in tobacco promotion scenes throughout his career.(Please refer our page about Mahendra Perera to read more about him.) Imbulana is involved in the ‘Certificate in Acting programme’ which covers acting, script writing and analysis, directing, movement and vocal training conducted by Somalatha Subasinghe Play House since 2019.

Imbulana produced many films and Music videos that gained popularity including ‘Nino live’, ‘Second show’, ‘Viraga Ragaya’, ‘Achchita halgarana’ and ‘Bamabara nade’. He received the Third Award of the Jury at the 3rd Hiru Golden Film Awards 2018 and a Merit Award at the 34th Sarasaviya Awards - 2018 for ‘Nino Live’, which was the first film directed by him. He received the Special Jury Award at the Derana Closeup Music Awards 2023 for his production ‘Hathey Hatha’, which was also directed by him.

Tobacco Related Activity

Promoting Tobacco Smoking in his Productions

Thisara Imbulana Films, owned by Thisara Imbulana, produced a number of music videos which contain multiple scenes promoting tobacco. The ‘Hathey Hatha’ series featured several scenes of smoking cigarettes by the actors including Xavier Kanishka and Danuka Dilshan. Please refer our respective pages to read more about them Xavier Kanishka and Danuka Dilshan.

‘Mandaram Kathawa’, a song of the Hathey Hatha series, depicted cigarette smoking, and was awarded the Most Romantic Song for the year 2022 at the Derana Closeup Music Awards 2023.The awarding ceremony was organized by Derana, a private media channel in Sri Lanka owned by Dilith Jayaweera. Additionally, the movie ‘Second Show’ written by Imbulana, also, included tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking scenes, which were cast by Hemal Ranasinghe.

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  Image 2: Excerpt from Music Video ‘Viraga Ragaya’

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  Image 3: Excerpt from Music Video ‘Ma prarthanawe’

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  Image 4: Excerpt from Music Video ‘Mandaram kathawe’

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  Image 5: Excerpt from Music video ‘Mawumkarai’

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  Image 6: Excerpt from Music Video ‘Ridena Tharam’

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  Image 7: Excerpt from movie ‘Second Show’

Portraying smoking on his personal Instagram Profile

The image below was seen in his Instagram timeline which is public.

Image 2: Thisara Imbulana posting smoking in Instagram.

Alcohol Related Activity

Promoting alcohol in his Productions

The songs of ‘Hathey Hatha’ series produced by Thisara Imbulana Films featured several scenes promoting alcohol products cast by Mahendra Perera, Bimal Jayakody, Shanudri Priyasad and Kaushlya Fernando.

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  Image 8: Excerpt from Music Video ‘Rathu Thol’

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  Image 9: Excerpt from Music Video ‘Noliyami’

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  Image 10: Excerpt from Music Video ‘Ridena Tharam’

Implications

Multiple research studies have shown that exposure to portrayal of tobacco products or their use in television and in movies is associated with initiation of smoking among viewers, especially among adolescents and youth, and sustenance of smoking among current smokers.A large body of evidence suggests that tobacco industry is known to have commissioned celebrities to promote tobacco and related products in media and through entertainment activities.

National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act No 27 of 2006 is the main legal framework for tobacco and alcohol control in Sri Lanka. Section 35 of the NATA Act prohibits tobacco and alcohol advertisements and promotion in media including ‘the internet’. NATA Act defines tobacco advertisements as, “any writing, still or moving picture, sign, symbol or distinctive colours or other visual image or any audible message or any combination of the aforesaid that promotes or is intended to promote – smoking, the purchase or use of a tobacco product, a trade mark registered in respect of a tobacco product or articles that include tobacco products, a brand name associated with a tobacco product, the name of the manufacturer of a tobacco product.” Thus, portrayal of tobacco products and their use has a negative effect on tobacco control measures in the country and violates the NATA Act.

TobaccoUnmasked Resources

• Mahendra Perera
• Xavier Kanishka
• Danuka Dilshan
• Dilith Jayaweera
• Hemal Ranasinghe
• National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act

The local language translations