It’s not always that Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan calls a song ‘impossible’ to stop listening and grooves to it in a meme video. Quite evidently, Sinhalese viral track ‘Manike mage hithe’, which translates to ‘Baby in my heart’, has taken the music world by mellifluous storm—cutting across cultural and language boundaries.
Sung by Sri Lankan singer Yohani de Silva, the number went viral, several lakh reels on Instagram were shared and has crossed 150 million views on YouTube. It has inspired scores of singers to create their own versions and led dance buffs to make their Insta Reels. And the 28-year-old Yohani, who says she often gets mistaken for a teenager, is lapping up her musical moment in the sun.
“There are two parts to my song going viral. First, it trended on social media. Literally, everyone in Sri Lanka had heard it. Then it went viral all over again after Bollywood Superstar Amitabh Bachchan shared it on his social media feed on August 15. The rest is history,” says Yohani, who was on a two-city tour to Gurugram and Hyderabad this month to perform on the Zee Live SuperMoon #NowTrending show.
Bachchan shared an edited meme video from Kaalia showing him dancing to ‘Manike mage hithe’ where the original ‘Jahan teri yeh nazar hai’ has been replaced with the Sri Lankan hit song. Attributing the video edit to his granddaughter Navya Naveli, he commented that it was ‘impossible to stop listening to the song’. Not surprisingly, Indians tuned in to her and she found herself in India for
a live performance.
A few hours before her Hyderabad show, dressed in purple pants, a floral shimmery top over a bralette, a black choker and sporting a pixie cut, Yohani obliged her fans with selfies and lipsyncs for Insta Reels.
In less than six months of her single ‘Manike mage hithe’ hitting 28 million views on YouTube, she got to pull superstar Salman Khan’s leg on his own show Bigg Boss 15. Back home, she’s part of a video clip to cheer the Sri Lankan cricket team with her rendition of ‘Ape kollo’ (Our boys) for the World Cup. Last seen, the singer from Colombo was urging her fans to flip and fold their new phones for a cellphone brand.
Obviously, she is in the big league now. However, the rapper says her focus is “just one thing; not views or shares, but to create memorable, everlasting music.” More excerpts from an exclusive interview:
Finding her calling: I took three years to swerve from accounting to entertainment. I did my Bachelor’s in Logistics and Master’s in Accounting in Australia. Between my exams and results, I had a gap of six months and I travelled around the country. Perhaps it was the magic of travel due to which I started feeling that I should pursue something creative like music.
Soon after my course in 2019, I went back to Sri Lanka and started doing a few covers on YouTube. Then I joined a record company to render a few singles. Later, I met music producer Chamath Sangeeth for ‘Sitha dawuna’. After that, we worked on ‘Manike’ and there was no looking back. I never felt the pressure to succeed and accountancy was always my Plan B.
Viral effect: It’s not just fame, but when a song goes viral, it reaches many people who can take you to another level. I don’t think I would be in India right now performing here, had it not been for the insanely successful song.
Fan-following: It’s different when Indians sing along and sway to my tunes without knowing the language. In Gurugram, the entire auditorium sang along. I had goosebumps watching them sway together to my song.
Work behind the diva: Being an entertainer is a 24x7 job. Schedules, recordings, rehearsals, social media... one has to get everything right. My entire team comes together. At the heart of all of it is the desire to create good music. Rest is incidental.
What’s next: I am open to singing in various languages, including Indian ones. I just released my first album Kella, with 12 Sinhalese songs. It revolves around a strong, happy, confident girl, who’s a bit like me.
Next big thing: Oh, no.
We don’t have Reels in Sri Lanka. I hope Instagram introduces it soon in my country.