Although the pandemic has crippled the entertainment industry, to a great extent, DJs do find work coming their way, but not as much as it was during the ‘old normal.’

The Maldives seem to be a happy hunting ground for DJs, and our guys are very much in the scene, over there.

Doing it for the past 15 years, in the Maldives, is Ranga Samarasinghe, who operates as DJ Belz.

Ranga began his school career at Kingswood Collage, Kandy, and, after his A/Ls, in 2002, he moved into the DJ scene, starting out as a mobile DJ.

His initial work was with the Central Master’s DJ Crew, and then the Zee Zee DJ crew, in Kandy.

Later, he started his own DJ crew with, DJ Indunil.

In 2005, he moved into action as Resident DJ at a well known night club in Kandy, at that point in time, called Blackout, at the Swiss Resident Hotel.

His first foreign assignment, to the Maldives, was in December, 2005, to perform at Christmas and New Year gigs.

The Maldives scene certainly does have a special attraction for Ranga and he has made his presence felt at many well-known resorts, over there – Kuda Bandos island, the capital Male, and Chaaya Lagoon Hakuraa Huraa (now known as Cinnamon Hakuraa).

In mid January, 2008, he joined, his current working place, Sun Island Resort and Spa, as a resident DJ. Owned by Villa Hotels, Maldives, it’s said to be the largest resort in the Maldives, with over 460 rooms.

Ranga has also done his thing in Indonesia, in 2014, performing as a guest DJ, at the Engine Room nightclub, in Bali.

Last year, the setup wasn’t favourable for any kind of entertainment, due to the lockdowns, and Ranga had to return home as the resort closed its doors to tourists.

After nearly seven months of closure, the resort started operation, in October, 2020, and the Sri Lankan DJ says he is so glad to be back, working, after a long break.

“We are now operating under the guidelines of the Maldives Health Authority and the Maldivian Government.”

Ranga also added that he now feels good after having taken the Covid-19 vaccine.

Another Sri Lankan DJ who is doing good in the Maldives is DJ Dex T (Desilva).

He does the scene at the Dusit Thani Resort.