Bathiya and Santhush

Bathiya & Santhush (Sinhala: භාතිය හා සන්තුෂ්), also known as BnS, are a Sri Lankan pop duo consisting of Bathiya Jayakody (born on 22 December 1976) and Santhush Weeraman (born on 5 September 1977), who met while at the Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music in Colombo (training mainly under the categories of classical and show tunes). Both were born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They have been one of the most commercially successful music acts in Sri Lanka in the last two decades.

BnS
Bathiya Jayakody (left) & Santhush Weeraman (right) in 2010 during the filming of the Sara Sihina Music Video.
Background information
Origin	Colombo, Sri Lanka
Genres	Hip hop, folkhop, electrohop, crunk
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Torana Music, M-Entertainment, SGMTune, Sony BMG, Universal Music
Members	Bathiya Jayakody Santhush Weeraman
Website	www.bnsmusic.com

Bathiya Jayakody was educated at Ananda College, Colombo while Santhush Weeraman was educated at Royal College, Colombo. Santhush comes from a musical family, his brother Dushyanth Weeraman is also a popular singer in Sri Lanka.

Since the inception of their act in 1998, they have over 50 number-one hit singles, six platinum selling mainstream albums, four commercially successful EPs and countless movie soundtracks. BNS are one of the biggest musical acts to hit the Sri Lankan musical scene since the 1990s, mixing Sinhala, Tamil, and English rap verses in their originals, while they have also mixed Hindi rap verses in their folkhop remixes,. BNS became the only Sri Lankan hip hop act to feature Indian singers, namely Hariharan (in the song "Yalpaname"), Asha Bhosle (in the song "Dedunna Sedi") and Sonu Nigam (in the song "Aa chale"). BnS is also the only Sri Lankan group to have albums under both Sony BMG & Universal Music India.

Having performed in over 2000 concerts in Sri Lanka and abroad, BnS marked significant success with their own concert tour series "Neththara Live" with 120 concerts (2005–2008), "Shaheena Live" 40 concerts (2009–2011), "Sarasihina Live" 150 concerts (2011–2014), "BNS Up Close & Personal" 50 Concerts (2015–2018) and their latest concert series "Oba Nisa – Celebrating 20 Years of Music" which was launched in 2019.

Starting as a musical duo from their home during their early days, BnS currently are the primary share holders of the BNS Production Group which houses companies in the Sri Lankan entertainment industry companies — Showtown Entertainment event management & production, Saregama Music Digital Audio Production, Saregama Films, Saregama Digital Content Acquisition & Management and Leap Strategic Concepts.

Career

Academic career

Bathiya started his education in Holloway Primary School in India and upon return in 1984, he entered Isipathana College, Colombo for a brief period. In 1988, he joined Ananda College, Colombo, Santhush studied at Royal College, Colombo.

Early musical journey

While studying western classical music privately, Bathiya was a member of the first Ananda College Senior Brass Band where he played the alto saxophone and occasionally filled in for the percussion section. He was also a pianist with the western music society. He was a founding member and a lead vocalist of the school band. Winning many awards at inter school competitions, Bathiya soon became a known figure in the school's music circuit as a college musician during the mid-90s. He later started learning the music technology with the Sri Lankan music artist Dilup Gabadamudalige. He also joined the Marry Anne Singers Colombo and studied opera, jazz and Broadway singing under the Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music. During the late 90s, Bathiya worked as a freelance vocalist singing for radio jingles and commercials together with Ranga Dassanayake. During this period, Bathiya Jayakody and Santhush Weeraman collaborated on a few projects, which led to the formation of BnS.

Television shows

Year	Title	Channel	Language	Role
2020–21	The Voice Sri Lanka (Season 1)	Sirasa TV	Sinhala	Coaches (themselves)
2022–23	The Voice Sri Lanka (Season 2)	Sirasa TV	Sinhala	Coaches (themselves)

Awards and accomplishments

2001

• Winner – Silver Award, Voice of Asia, Kazakhstan.
• Winner – Bronze Award, Shanghai Music Festival, China.

2002

• First Sri Lankan artists to secure a Music Publishing Contract under Universal Music Publishing.
• First Sri Lankan artists to sign a recording contract with Sony BMG.
• Composers & Performers of the Official Sri Lankan Cricket Anthem for Sri Lanka Cricket – Apa jathiye naamayen.
• Winner – TYOP Award for the contribution to Culture & Arts, Ten Young Outstanding Persons of the year awards (TOYP).
• Winner – Best fusion band, Golden Clef Award.

2003

• Bronze award – 4th Sunflower Hip hop Music Festival in Zernjanin, Serbia.

2005

• Special Achievement Award Winners at the "Astana Music Festival" in Kazakhstan.

2007

• Winner – "Male Icon-2006" Entertainment Industry Award (Ceremony was held on 14 June at Hilton Colombo.)
• Winner – Most Popular Artist of the Year Award, Sirasa Music Awards.

2009

• First Sri Lankan artists to release a song with an Indian collaboration. BnS released a track called "Yalpaname" featuring iconic Indian singer Hariharan.
• Collaboration with Asha Bhosle for the song "Dedunna Sedi".

2010

• Runner-up – Music Video of Lanka Matha, Derana Music Video Awards in 2010.
• Performed at the opening act of the IIFA Awards 2010. BnS was also the co-writers of the IIFA awards 2010 opening music track together with Jananath Warakagoda.

2011

• Performed at the ICC Cricket World Cup opening ceremony as ambassadors of folkhop.

2012

• Winner – Award for outstanding contribution to the Sri Lankan Music Industry, Derana Music Video Awards in 2012.
• Composed and Performed of the official theme song for ICC Cricket T20 World Cup Song 2012

2013

• Composed the song "Aa chale" sung by Indian singer Sonu Nigam for the Hindi dubbed version of the Japanese anime movie The Mystical Laws.
• Performed and co-directed the official theme song for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

2014

• Runners-up – Best Music Video, for Res Vihidena Samanaliyak, Derana Music Video Awards in 2014.

2015

• Winner of the best VFX music Video at the Derana Music Video Award for the Music Video "Lassana Desak".

2016

• Winners of the prestigious Ada Derana "Sri Lankan" of the Year

Discography

Year	Title	Label
1998	Vasanthaye ~ A New Beginning	Torana Music
2000	Life	Torana Music
2002	Tharunyaye	Maharaja Entertainments
2005	Neththara	Maharaja Entertainments
2006	Hiripoda Wassa (Movie OST)	SGMTunes
2007	Ayubowan	Universal Music
	Asai Man Piyabanna (Film OST)	SGMTunes
2008	Shaheena	SGMTunes
	Adaraye Namayen (Film OST)
2009	Rosa Kale (Movie OST)	SGMTunes
	Sri Lanka Matha	SGMTunes
	Dancing Star (Movie OST)	Maharaja Entertainments
2010	Sara Sihina	SGMTunes
2014	Resvihidena	SGMTunes
2016	Pravegaya (Movie OST)	SGMTunes
2019	Oba Nisa [White Edition]	SGMTunes

References

• "Current Affairs". Priu.gov.lk. 25 February 2002. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "BUSINESS TODAY - Dialog reappoints Bathiya and Santhush as Kit Brand Ambassadors". Businesstoday.lk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• Archived 22 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• "BUSINESS TODAY - Message Of Patriotism Through Mother Sri Lanka". Businesstoday.lk. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "BUSINESS TODAY - Maliban Lemon Puff re-launched with a new look and taste". Businesstoday.lk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "BUSINESS TODAY - HNB Assurance launches "myhome" and "myhealth"". Businesstoday.lk. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "Bathiya & Santhush | Vernon Corea 1927-2002". Vernoncorea.wordpress.com. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "The Island - Business". Island.lk. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "Bathiya and Santhush on Vernon Corea | Vernon Corea 1927-2002". Vernoncorea.wordpress.com. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "The Island-Business". Island.lk. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "Daily Mirror - FINANCIAL TIMES". Archives.dailymirror.lk. 5 September 2007. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2015.* Archived 3 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
• "McDonalds launches delivery service". Sundayobserver.lk. 8 March 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "SLPL 2012- MASCOT WOULD BE 'FUN LION'". Gossip Lanka News [English]. 21 July 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
• "HNB Assurance launches 'myhome' and 'myhealth' :::DailyFT - Be Empowered". Ft.lk. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.

External links

• BnS official site