Former Lake House chairman and veteran media personality Bandula Padmakumara passed away at a private hospital on Thursday and the private funeral took place on the same day at the General Cemetery, Borella, according to his last will. He was 71.
He had been suffering from a kidney ailment during the latter stages of his distinguished career and was recommended for a kidney transplant. It was when he was preparing for the operation that he was forced to untimely end his innings.
Born on June 2, 1950, Padmakumara was a product of Ananda College, Colombo and from his youthful age, he showed his passion for arts and journalism.
During his early youthful life, he proved his mettle as an Assistant Director of the film Nim Walalla. His other 1970s contribution in the film industry included being an Assistant Director in Akkara Paha and the Main Director in Sarasavi Diyaniyo.
He became a household name from his early career, taking youth to a new level with a range of tabloid papers – Kumari, Araliya and Sarasi.
He also became the chief editor of Sathsara, Rajina and Sumadhura. Padmakumara gave a new dimension to broadsheet newspapers by introducing 16-page tabloid pullouts. These tabloids became extremely popular in next to no time and even the broadsheet English newspapers too followed the same style subsequently.
Due to his immense popularity which toppled the tabloid publication, upside down, and was called a Mal Paththara Karaya in the industry. But he used that soaring popularity to create some of the best women’s publications. He was also the editor of Geetha and Kumari in the 70s.
Two of the significant milestones in his journalistic career were becoming the Chief Editor of the Lakbima Sunday edition in the 90s and the elevation to head Lake House in 2007.
A man who was popular only among the tabloid world, he created a name for himself overnight in the national newspapers with the emergence of Lakbima which gave a good challenge to established Sinhala Sunday newspapers at the time. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to make Lakbima a popular brand, going that extra mile.
He deviated from his chief editor’s role to play makeshift roles, where circulation was concerned. “Even when a news agent reduced his number of newspapers order even by two, I used to visit him the following week. I looked into the hardships faced by them and ultimately added two or three extra newspaper orders with their consent.
We had that sort of high dedication to groom a totally new newspaper and we succeeded,” said Padmakumara recounting his success in a casual chat with me when he was the Chairman of Lake House.
He became the Chairman of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (ANCL) in 2007 and held the hot seat till January 8, 2015. Prior to that, he held the post of Editorial Director, ANCL from 2002-2003.
Working as the ANCL Chairman was even more challenging because he had to continue his popular television program Mul Pituwa, which was yet another first in the local TV industry spotlighting newspaper headlines. Up and about at 3 am, going to the television station early to line up the presentations and coming to Lake House before noon, was by no means, an easy task.
Nevertheless, he managed his 24 hours extremely well to get the maximum out of it, and also found the time to take a two-hour nap on his return after the Mul Pituwa - before coming to Lake House. Except for an unavoidable odd job, he always managed to be in bed early, before 8.30 pm. That was the ‘successful time machine’ made for Padmakumara. He also took his Mul Pituwa program to another TV channel in 2018.
Prior to those tight roles, he was the founder of the Free Media Movement. He won the Rigam Tele jury award for his Mul Pituwa creations in 2004. His Loka Sithiyama global program in 2012 won another commendation award. He also launched his own publishing house in 2016.
Bandula was married to Samanmalie, a well-known children’s author, and was blessed with a son and a daughter – Hiru and Muthu.
– Dinesh