In early 1940s, Herbie went India and resided in Calcutta. During this period, he studied Buddhism and philosophy Neluwe Sri Gunananda Thero at Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi temple. He joined the "Institute of Drama" in Calcutta and studied stage drama. He also had a 1 and 1/2 years of study at the
Shantiniketan of the
Rabindranath Tagore. While he was starring in the film, he received a telegram from his brother
Shanthi Kumar asking him to come to the Victoria Hotel in Madras and meet soon. Shanthi Kumar informed Herbie about his upcoming film
Asokamala where he has reserved a sub-main role for Herbie. The two arrived in Sri Lanka and left for India on 9 October 1946, via Talai Mannar with a crew about forty others. Then Shanthi Kumar made the first Sinhala talkie film with the help of M. Somsundaram, who was the head of Jupiter Pictures as well as Central Studios in Madras. Along with Rukmani, Herbie acted in many films in the lead role including
Veradunu Kurumanama,
Peralena Iranama,
Hadisi Vinischaya,
Segawunu Pilithura and
Iranganie. He also played the lead role in the film
Sansare and
Radala Piliruwa with
Rita Ratnayake. The song 'Dutu Da Idala Luhu Banda' sung with Kanthi in the film
Suraya became very popular. The film
Surasena was created in six languages and simultaneously filmed with all six languages. The original Tamil version,
Malai Kallan(1954) featured M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) as the hero.
Dilip Kumar played the lead role in Hindi adaptation
Asad(1955). Every film that Herbie starred in was a Cinemas Production. He also acted in the film
Veera Vijaya which is the last Sinhala film produced in India. In this film, Herbie became the first cinema boyfriend of
Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya. In 1961, he made his maiden cinema direction with the film
Daruwa Kageda. Then he acted and directed the films
Suhada Divi Piduma (1962),
Sudu Sande Kalu Wala (1963), and
Samaje Api Okkoma Samanai (1964). In his late years, Seneviratne played character roles in 1974 film
Lasanda, 1976 film
Wasana and in his final film
Bambara Kalapaya (1991). After retiring from acting, Herbie worked as a manager at a cinema hall in Kurunegala. Later, he received the Lifetime Rana Thisara Award at the Sarasaviya Film Festival. ==Filmography==