He graduated from the University of Peradeniya with an Honours degree in Sinhala and Western Classic and began a teaching career at Vidyalankara University in Kelaniya. His first full length film, One League of Sky(1974) won many national awards and The Wasps are Here(1978) won the Presidential Award for Best film and best director at several international festivals including Moscow and Los Angeles. Feature films include Old Soldier(1981), Ponmani(1978) and so on. At present, he teaches film at the University of Colombo.