MENIKE MAGE SITHE, Taking music to the dizzy heights
It is a fantastic combination and it is gaining momentum beyond the confines of Sri Lanka. Newest heartthrob and new kid on the block, Yohani are redefining the local showbiz scene with international flavour right now. At the time of writing this article, Yohani Diloka De Silva is making history in India where she was invited to perform at two exclusive mega concerts in New Delhi and Hyderabad which are expected to draw huge crowds, of course Indian fans at large. She became an instant sensation in the sub-continent with her hit song ‘Menike mage sithe’ which was taken by storm. But, it didn’t stop there. Now, it is conquering all over the world. This was signified by the fact that her song was approved by Dubai, UAE authorities to play at world famous Burj Khalifa water front promenade where a magnificent display of its water fountains showcased her iconic song ‘Menike mage sithe’ to the sheer pride of euphoric Sri Lankans working there, may be even people from sub-continent. In fact, she made history there as it was the first time that a Sinhala song was chosen to be played, in front of the world’s tallest building; Burj Khalifa of Dubai. This iconic song got another impetus when child prodigal violinist Karolina Prostenko performed it on the streets of California, USA. 12 year old Ukraine born Karolina is a popular YouTube artist who has recorded 500 million viewers so far. Evenly, Yohani’s pick of songs reached 140 million mark recently which is unprecedented in this part of the world. This Sinhala song proves the fact that music is a universal language in no uncertain terms.
It draws parallels
Yohani is the eldest daughter of Major General (Retired) Prasanna De Silva, a hero in the final battle of 30 year war who commanded 55th Division to a comprehensive victory in 2009. Having done his part in his illustrious military career, he is on a happy retirement today, rejoicing success of her daughter’s music career. Similarly, Bathiya Jayakody is the son of late Major General Nihal Jayakody who rendered a yeomen service in the decisive phase of the war before succumbing to a heart attack while still being in the military service. There is a generation gap as far as Bathiya’s and Yohani’s music careers are concerned. Bathiya embarked on his music journey in late nineties whereas Yohani stepped into the scene barely a couple of years back. Bathiya and Santhush (B & S) duo would have dreamed of taking Sri Lankan musical identity to the international theatre of music some two decades ago. In fact, it was B&S combination who introduced ‘rap’ music genre to the local music culture. Yohani too promotes ‘rap’ culture in her own inimitable style which appeals to the music lovers across the borders, being the secret of her success story. However, Yohani is truly lucky as she stepped ahead of B&S in this endeavour within a short span of time. Sometimes, even she would have not imagined such a leap forward to the stardom. She commenced her career as a YouTuber initially and adopted and reproduced Sathishan Ratnayake’s original song ‘Manike mage hithe’ to a new remix version which turned out to be an instant hit as we witness today. It is noteworthy that 28 year old Yohani is evenly academically qualified, having been armed with a degree in logistics management from Kotalawala Defence University and master’s degree from an Australian University. She had her education at Visaka Vidyalaya, Colombo up to ordinary level and proceeded to England for advanced level. Sri Lankans are surely proud to see the offspring of two eminent Major Generals of SL Army nurturing new generation music in the country.
Gaining steadfast popularity
The cover song ‘Menike mage hithe’ indeed took the world by storm. Today, it is an amazingly popular single in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives with enormous commercial success. This iconic song was hailed by none other than Amitabh Buchchan, Big Sam of Indian cinema who tweeted that he couldn’t resist listening to this lovely melody. Besides, Madhuri Dixit, Parineeti Chopra, Tiger Shroff and Sonu Nigam adored this song and even went on to perform dance acts to its music. This bolstered the fame of this song beyond imagination. This new wave prompted grandchild of Amitabh Bachchan, Navya Naveli Nanda to change the background music of her film ‘Kaliyah’ to the tune of Menike mage sithe. Today, the lyrics of this song has been translated into a number of languages such as Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali, Bengali, and Malayalam to name a few. This trend will transcend the language barriers of other countries soon. Today, it is a popular song on reality show platforms as well especially in India and video clips are going viral on YouTube. As this song came to be prominently featured in Amazon and Spotify charts, its popularity is on a meteoric rise everywhere in the world and a likelihood remains that it will soon reach US market, topping the charts. Yohani is in the limelight internationally which no Sri Lankan singer has ever made. Her popularity in India is such that she was invited to perform at two exclusive mega shows in India. She received a rousing welcome in India with a reported gathering of 450,000 fans at the airport. These two shows are speculated to gather Indian blend of elite in the calibre of politicians, film stars, musicians and millions of fans. However, the reaction of Sri Lankans to her superstar status is said to be a matter of concern. Not much of high-end artists truly appreciated her feat except a handful including songstress Nanda Malini who wished Yohani a long music career recently. Nevertheless, this petite songstress has a good following among the young generation of Sri Lankans as her looks matches her music talents perfectly. Now, going by the trending, it is widely believed that she is going to be first multi-millionaire female vocalist in Sri Lanka soon. Whatever said and done, she has made Sri Lanka proud by her dazzling performance so far but she has a long way to go with brickbats and flowers in the Sri Lanka’s context. Wish you all the very best, Yohani.
