Dolewatte Appuhamillage Thisura Naveen Jayathilaka was born on December 4, 1997, in Kegalle, Sri Lanka. He is the only child of Nimali Herath, a Samurdhi bank manager, and the late Chandrananda Jayathilaka, a lieutenant colonel in the Sri Lanka Army. Chandrananda was killed in action when Thisura was just three weeks old, and his mother has raised him as a single parent ever since.
Thisura studied at Kegalu Vidyalaya and completed Grade 5 scholarship examination, G.C.E. Ordinary Levels and Advanced Levels from 2003 to 2016.
A few months later, he enrolled to study interior design at NSBM Green University, but dropped out after one semester. In 2017, he joined Catwalk Model Academy and successfully completed his training there.
In 2019, Thisura enrolled at the Colombo Film School (formerly Sri Lanka Film School) and began his formal education in filmmaking.
During his studies, he wrote and directed three short films:
Thisura made his debut in 2018 with the short film Shoes, directed by his classmate and friend, Kavindu Millagala, and played the lead role of a shoemaker.
In 2024, Thisura co-founded WUF (Weekend Underground Filmmakers) with several other filmmakers from his hometown, Kegalle. Their first production, Pirimi Hith, a short film inspired by a poetry book of the same title, was made and released in 2024. They followed this with the micro short film Many Lifetimes.