Yohani: I want to learn Hindi, work in Bollywood

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, September 25: Sri Lanka’s singing sensation Yohani Diloka de Silva says she wants to learn Hindi and work in Bollywood with India’s top music-makers such as A R Rahman. She expressed this desire in a series of interviews she gave leading Indian newspapers and television channels during the last fortnight.

“I don’t know Hindi at all, I want to learn it. I am a big fan of Bollywood music. A lot of music in Sri Lanka is inspired by Bollywood,” she said. “I love doing new things. If I ever get to work with A R Rahman, it would be a dream come true. I’m a big fan of all of his works.”

Apart from AR Rahman, Yohani named Honey Singh, Divine and Neha Kakkar as well. She also referred to Jacqueline Fernandez, the Sri Lanka-born actress who has learnt Hindi and has made a success of her career in Bollywood.

She also said she wants to perform live in front of massive crowds. This week she will be doing just that: perform with her band at Gurugram near New Delhi and in Hyderabad, capital of the southern Indian state of Telangana.

The shows are being sponsored by ZEE LIVE of the ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited, pioneer of the television entertainment industry in India. She and her nine-member band will be performing in Gurugram near here on this Thursday (September 30) and in Hyderabad on Sunday (October 3).

 According to ZEE LIVE, the live entertainment and IP vertical of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., (ZEEL) is organising the event ‘Supermoon now trending ft. Yohani’ and has invited Yohani along with her band manager to perform at the two concerts. She will address a press conference in Mumbai before returning home.

Hindi or Hindustani as a mixture of Hindi and Urdu spoken in Bollywood films, is the fourth most-spoken language in the world with 544 million speakers, after English (1.5 billion speakers), Mandarin Chinese (1.3 billion), and Spanish (661 million).

But, thanks to Bollywood films and movie music, it is possibly the most understood language on the planet. In South Asia alone, it is understood by over a billion people in India, 220 million in Pakistan, over 160 million in Bangladesh, and many more millions in Nepal and elsewhere.

Then there is also the 50-million-strong South Asian diaspora across the globe who flock to Bollywood films. Besides, OTT (Over The Top) platforms such as Amazon Prime Videos, Netflix, Disney+hotstar etc are taking Indian cinema in general and Bollywood films in particular to all corners of the globe.

Yohani’s ‘Manike Mage Hithe’ has already reached over 116 million viewers on YouTube alone in India. It all began with an effusive tweet by Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan. On the evening of August 15, he tweeted to his 40 million followers: “But truly an ode to that incredible Sri Lankan song ‘Manike Mage Hithe’..edited here to my KALIA song by the genius NAVYA NAVELI..BUT honestly Manike.. playing in loop whole night .. impossible to stop listening.. SUUUPPEEERRRBBB.”

When her manager called Yohani up to say that Amitabh Bachchan had shared her song, ‘Manike Mage Hithe’, the singer couldn’t believe it. “I had thought he was pulling a prank on me and I went back to sleep. The next morning, I had many calls and messages from so many people congratulating me. It still feels unreal. I’m humbled by the recognition,” she said.

Overnight, the rest of Bollywood and India tuned in to watch and listen to the song on YouTube, Instagram and a host of other social media platforms. The song garnered top Bollywood stars’ praise, and now boasts of versions in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Odia, Bhojpuri and several other languages. Those who shared it with millions of their fans included Priyanka Chopra, Madhuri Dixit, Parineeti Chopra, Tiger Shroff, Krystle D’Souza, Rannvijay Singha, Neha Kakkar, Yashraj Mukhate, and a host of others.

And the Indian High Commission in Colombo greeted Yohani in a tweet that said: “A proud moment as the Newest Cultural Ambassador @yohanimusic is feted by national TV networks in India. #manikemagehithe has captured millions of Indian hearts from celebrities to common people.”

“I am humbled to see the love it has received from India, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of something as incredible as this event. I am thrilled and look forward to performing live amongst my fans and connecting with them in-person,” she added.

A fan of Bachchan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone and Jacqueline Fernandez, Yohani also listens to a lot of music from India. Thanking all her Indian admirers, she said: “I can’t wait to perform live for you. I want to make friends and do collaborations with many of you. I also look forward to learning more about the culture and possibly speaking your language too. I love you all.”