Sri Lankan duo in the limelight with Hindi cover song

Source:Island

It’s encouraging to see our local artistes, from all corners of the globe, taking advantage of this pandemic, to showcase their capabilities.

Rubeena Shabnam, going by her stage name ‘Ruby,’ has been living in Doha, Qatar, for the past 12 years.

By profession, she works as a Nursery School Teacher, and loves to be in the company of kids, she says.

She is also active in the music industry, making her presence felt, as a singer, four years ago.

At present, this talented Sri Lankan works as a RJ (radio jockey) for Radio Suno Lanka, which is a popular radio station, amongst the Sri Lankan community, in Qatar.

Dileepa Liyanage, known as Lee in the music scene, has been a resident of Doha, Qatar, since 2010.

From his teenage days, Dileepa has had a passion for music – singing and composing

What has caught the attention of many, in Dohar, is the combined effort of Rubeena and Dileepa in creating a newer version of ‘Mile Ho Tum Humko,’ a popular Bollywood hit, originally sung by Neha Kakkar and Tony Kakkar.

According to Rubeena, this is their first Hindi cover song, and this is how it all came about.

“I love Hindi music and I thought it would be great if we could work on something different. I suggested this to Dileepa and he loved my idea, and we then sprung into action.

“Previously, we had sung several arrangements in Sinhala. And, now, we are proud to be the first Sri Lankan duo, in Qatar, to serenade a Hindi cover song.”

The twosome now plan to reach out to other nationalities, as well.

Rubeena went on to say that Dileepa arranged the melody in one day and the track was completed, within three days.

Others involved in this production included Dinanjana Madusanka (flute), and Saliya Illangasinghe (guitar), with Angelo Anslem (video).

As a duo, they are hoping to release an original Hindi song, composed by Dileepa, with the help of a lyricist from India.

‘Mile Ho Tum Humko,’ (with video ) by the Sri Lankan duo, was launched last Thursday, March 18th, on Radio Suno Lanka.