The song is titled Aathichudi and retains certain Sinhala words and phrases from the original (remake) of Suranganie by Dinesh. In 2008, Sri Lankan artiste Dinesh Kanagarathnam made a remake of Suranganie in Sinhala and Tamil for his album Thamila. Famed South Indian music director Vijay Antony in turn, collaborated with Dinesh and made a remix of it for in the film TN-07-AL-4777 released that same year. Another significant example is Suraangani Kamaal Karegi sung by Asha Bhosle in the Hindi film Parmaatma (1978). The song and its translated versions went on to feature in many films since then, the first being Avar Enakke Sontham where director Ilayaraja’s Tamil version (with the Sinhala refrain) was sung by Malaysia Vasudevan and Renuka. The song was catchy and very quickly became the “go-to” song of many school-going and university youth of Chennai who then took it to other parts of India. With the song gaining immediate popularity, Manoharan also released a bilingual Sinhala and Tamil version with a Surya Record label, which was broadcast on Ceylon Radio’s international radio and Indian air time – it did not take long for the craze to start in Tamil Nadu. Manoharan, actor and pop singer, who had just been appointed a Producer for Dramas in the commercial section of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.
Yet Suranganie was the one Sinhala song that came first. In fact, many believe that it is the Konkani version which is the original. If one were to hear any one of these versions, it would be natural for them to assume that the Sinhala song came after the Indian version(s) since that has been the “natural” order of things. Little do many know that it also set the precedent for several songs in India – today, one would find a number of renditions of Suranganie in India, especially in Tamil, Konkani, Hindi and Marathi. Suranganie is a staple Sri Lankan wedding and trip song. In the context of the huge crowds Yohani has amassed in India and the prolific success she is having there as we speak, it would be apt to look back on the other Sri Lankan singing sensation that made India go crazy.
Within a span of a few weeks, there were hundreds of vocal and instrumental covers from India and many other parts all over the world, throwing light on Sri Lanka’s place on the musical map. It has been wonderfully exciting to witness all the love and warmth pouring towards Yohani de Silva following her cover of Satheeshan Rathnayake’s Manike Mage Hithe written by Dulan ARX and produced by Chamath Sangeeth. Originally published on 3rd October 2021 in The Colombo Telegraph –