Ganga Addara by Anarkali and Kumar premiered on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, on YouTube. This cover version of “Ganga Addara” from the 1980 film of the same name was recorded as a gift to the film’s director, Sumitra Peries on her birthday on 24 March.
Written by Nimal Mendis and translated into Sinhala by Augustus Vinayagaratnam, the song was originally sung by Vijaya Kumaranatunga.
Speaking to Kumar de Silva about the launch of the cover track together with its accompanying music video, he shared with us that he wished to do something special for a good friend, who also happens to be a living legend.
Kumar’s friendship with Sumitra Peries pans an impressive three decades, having known each other since they first crossed paths back when he was doing his TV show The Bonsoir Diaries in 1986 when he got to know the Perieses very well.
Joining Kumar on vocals is his daughter Anarkali; and Kumar, while reiterating how they are in no way professionals and are amateur singers in all senses of the word, said that the collaboration came about as he and his daughter were singing together in the car, as they often did, and he asked her if she would be willing to do this as a gift for Peries.
We also spoke to the incredibly camera-shy Anarkali, who shared with us what the experience meant to her: “This was an amazing experience for me. I hardly listen to any English songs. I am a number one all-time fan of Sinhala music. This song has been one of my absolute favourites since I was quite young. Being able to do this with thaththa was a very special moment to me. I was also really excited and happy to work with my dance guru Sir Ravibandhu Vidhyapathy and Uncle Neranjan.”
Percussionist Ravibandhu Vidhyapathy contributed tabla, thalampota, and rattles for the track, and Neranjan de Silva was responsible for the musical arrangement, orchestration, audio production, camera, and editing.
A long-time friend of Kumar’s, Neranjan was quite literally the driving force behind the entire production, according to Kumar. Speaking with Neranjan himself, he shared his thoughts about the project stating: “Firstly to do such a cover, you need a reason, and here we have a tribute,” and so he went ahead with getting everything ready, the first order of business being that he had to assess the voices, to see what he was working with. “I did a test, got an audition recording done and analysed it, see if it can sound appealing.” Appealing being the key word here, said Neranjan, pointing out that there are plenty of singers who are technically not the best, but you can go far with “appealing”.
Neranjan is also behind the beautiful music video which accompanies the track, shot in Koggala. He shared that despite being somewhat difficult to work with, Kumar was patient enough to do things his way. Kumar, of course, shared the other side of the story, stating that Neranjan, being a perfectionist, inspired great respect for his work ethic, and despite having to make two round trips to Koggala to get the perfect shot, the end result proved that it was worth it.
Kumar also shared that one of the bigger hurdles they faced was the issue of copyright, as Maharaja Entertainment happened to hold the rights to the song. However, considering that it was for a non-commercial purpose and purely as a surprise for Sumitra Peries for her birthday, they were able to get the go ahead, and Kumar expressed his thanks to Maharaja Entertainment for their kind permission to perform and record this cover version. The cover was formally gifted to Peries during a private screening on her birthday.
