Daya Wimalaweera (born 11 December 1937 – died 12 August 2019 as දයා විමලවීර) [Sinhala]), was a director in Sri Lankan cinema and stage drama.
[5] His father Sirisena Wimalaweera was a renowned lyricist, screenwriter, producer and filmmaker in Sinhala cinema.
[6] His father made many critically acclaimed films in early cinema including Amma, Saradiel, Asoka, Sirakaruwa and Wana Mala.
[5] He has two elder sisters - Somawathi and Premawathi; and two younger brothers - Upasena and Ranjith.
Manel was the lead actress in the 1959 film Ma Ale Kala Tharuniya directed by their father Sirisena Wimalaweera.
Prior to that, Matthias was the camera operator of the famous Indian filmmaker Mehboob.
He first handled camera in the film Rodi Kella, even though prior to completing the shooting, his father died.
[5] Then he was the chief cinematographer for many films such as Kalana Mithuro, Veeduru Gewal, Miringuwa and Sikuruliya.
[10] In 1972, Wimalaweera made his directorial debut with the film Veeduru Gewal where the screenplay by Tissa Abeysekara and based on a detective story.