Sri Lanka Tourism is planning to appoint young singing sensation Yohani de Silva as a brand ambassador to promote the country.
“There is a plan, but it is still at the discussion stage,” a top official confirmed to Daily FT on the basis of anonymity.
Singer-songwriter and rapper Yohani rose to global fame with her cover version of ‘Menike Mage Hithe,’ which became an instant hit, and in the process won the hearts of millions of people around the world, such as Indian superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan and Tiger Shroff. The insanely popular song crossed 150 million views on YouTube and has been present on the YouTube Global Music Index Top 10 for several days.
After winning millions of Indian hearts, the singer on Tuesday announced that she was now all set to enter Bollywood with Ajay Devgn-starrer ‘Thank God,’ which is directed by Indra Kumar and produced by Bhushan Kumar. Yohani will sing the Hindi version of her hit song for the film, which also stars Sidharth Malhotra and Rakul Preet Singh.
“Ecstatic to be part of Bollywood. Hindi version of the song #ManikeMageHithe will be in the film #ThankGod. Couldn’t be more excited!!” she posted on her official Instagram handle.
Yohani is also scheduled to perform on 3 January at the National Day event designated for Sri Lanka at Expo 2020 Dubai.
The Daily FT learns that Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga and Yohani had been quite busy over the past few weeks. The Minister was out on official tours to France and Dubai in the recent weeks and has just returned to the country, while Yohani had back-to-back tours and was feted by national TV networks in India.
In her latest visit to India, Yohani was also invited for a special appearance as a guest at the famous Bigg Boss reality show, hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan.
She sang her rendition of ‘Manike Mage Hithe’ on the stage of Bigg Boss 15 and the famous Bollywood song ‘Oh Oh Jaane Jaana’ which starred Khan. Host Khan was mesmerised by her soulful voice. Yohani requested him to sing, and he followed her; unable to comprehend the Sinhalese lyrics, Khan gave his own take on it, and both were left in hysterics.
(FT)