භාතිය සන්තුෂ්
95 songs performed · 1 composition
Bathiya and Santhush (also written Bathiya & Santhush, and widely known by the initials BnS), භාතිය සහ සන්තුෂ්, are a Sri Lankan pop duo made up of Bathiya Jayakody and Santhush Weeraman. Active since 1998, they brought hip hop, R&B, and electronic production into mainstream Sinhala pop and became one of the most commercially successful acts in the country, behind hits such as Neththara, Oba Nisa, and Nano.
The two singers met as students at the Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music in Colombo, where both were training their voices. Bathiya Jayakody, born on 22 December 1976, was educated at Ananda College, while Santhush Weeraman, born on 5 September 1977, attended Royal College. Santhush comes from a musical family; his brother, the singer Dushyanth Weeraman, also built a career in Sri Lankan pop. The pair formed their act in 1998, at a moment when local pop was open to new sounds.
Bathiya & Santhush built their reputation by blending Sinhala melody with rap verses, often switching between Sinhala, Tamil, and English in a single track and folding Hindi verses into their remixes. Over their career they have claimed dozens of number-one singles and several platinum-selling albums, with records including Vasanthaye, Neththara, Shaheena, and Oba Nisa. Songs such as Shaheena, Unmadani, and Ras Wihidena Samanaliyakagen sit among the recordings that defined their sound for a generation of Sri Lankan listeners.
BnS were notable for bringing leading Indian playback voices onto Sinhala records. They worked with Hariharan on a version of Yalpaname Pipichcha, with Asha Bhosle on “Dedunna Sedi”, and with Sonu Nigam. They were also the first Sri Lankan artists to sign international publishing deals of this kind, and they composed and performed widely for film and national occasions, including a cricket anthem and a performance at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup opening ceremony. Their reading of Sri Lanka Matha is among the patriotic recordings tied to the duo.
By coaching the first seasons of The Voice Sri Lanka, Bathiya and Santhush moved from performers into mentors for a younger generation, while their early catalogue stayed in heavy rotation across the Sinhala diaspora. For many listeners BnS marked the point where Sri Lankan pop absorbed hip hop and modern studio production without losing its Sinhala lyric heart, which is why songs like Kasthuri Suwandaki and Sanda Re remain wedding-playlist and karaoke staples.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Bathiya and Santhush (BnS).
Performed by: Bathiya and Santhush (BnS) (භාතිය සන්තුෂ්)