Ralex Ranasinghe

He served stints at the National Film Corporation and Sri Lanka Tourist Board. He compiled the ‘Sri Lanka Tourist Bulletin‘ during his tenure at the Tourist Board

The 13th death anniversary of yesteryear iconic photo journalist Ralex Ranasinghe falls on October 5. Ralex Ranasinghe – the eldest brother of legendary film star Tony Ranasinghe - was born in Modera, Colombo on September 21, 1935. His full name was Ranasinghe Hettiarachchige Hugo Mathew Alexander Silva. Alexander was called Alex and later ‘Ralex’ became his pet name. He had his primary education at De La Salle College, Modera. Ralex contributed to newspapers like the Gnanartha Pradeepaya, Catholic Messenger, Visithura, Mela, Chitravahini, Weekend, Doothaya, Navayugaya, Daily Mirror, Vichitra and other publications as a photographer. He served stints at the National Film Corporation and Sri Lanka Tourist Board. He compiled the ‘Sri Lanka Tourist Bulletin’ during his tenure at the Tourist Board. Besides photography, his passion for poster designing was also exceptional. Be it for films, stage plays, musical concerts, Ralex had unique ideas that he successfully transformed into creative work. He has a large collection of stage play posters to his credit. Among his film posters , the ones he designed for Sihina Sathak, Sadol Kandulu, Sama, Mokada Wune, Vasanthi, Duhulu Malak, Madol Duwa, Nuwan Renu and Pauru W0alalu stand out as awesome creations. The four-colour Sihina Sathak poster had been hand painted by him and veteran film critic Jayawilal Wilegoda had mentioned about it in his film review. He married Maureen and they had a daughter and son – Mareesha and Mario. Ralex Ranasinghe breathed his last on October 5 in 2006.