Manike Mage Hithe මැණිකේ මගේ හිතේ
“Manike Mage Hithe” (Sinhala: මැණිකේ මගේ හිතේ) is a 2020 Sinhala song by Satheeshan Rathnayaka.[1][2] An official cover for the song was done by Yohani and Satheeshan and released on 22 May 2021.[3] The lyrics were written by Dulan ARX. The song went viral and within 3 months it surpassed 150 million views on YouTube as it became an instant hit worldwide especially in South Asia.[4][5][6] The video song also marked the first major breakthrough viral marketing in Sri Lanka.[7]
Manike Mage Hithe මැණිකේ මගේ හිතේ – Official Cover – Yohani & Satheeshan
The song was produced by Chamath Sangeeth in July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Sri Lanka. It was uploaded on YouTube on 22 May 2021 coinciding with the Republic Day of Sri Lanka.[8][9] The video song features young artists Yohani de Silva and Satheeshan Rathnayaka in the background crooning the lyrics of the song. The song became an internet sensation within few days since its official release on YouTube.[10] The song was later dubbed in many languages including Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali, Bengali, Bhojpuri and Malayalam by different artists due to the huge audience response in many countries including India for the song which was originally produced in Sinhala language. The Tamil and Malayalam versions of the song were sung by Yohani were published on YouTube on 28 August 2021. This has become the second cover song after “Shape of you Sri Lankan Mashup” by three member DeepSounds to go massively viral in Sri Lanka and the first ever to have a wider global outreach.[11][12][13][14][15][16]
The song surpassed 100 million views in YouTube as of September 2021.[17][18][19]
The song debuted at number 8 on the Asian Music Chart Top 40 on 24 September 2021.