Bid adieu Anil
View(s):Popular singer Anil Bharathi has passed away last week at the age of 75 years, while being treated at the Panadura hospital, burial took place amidst a large gathering of mourners including artistes.
Bharathi was a renowned artiste with a career spanning over four decades. Known for his deep base voice, Anil first rose to fame as a lead singer of the legendary band ‘Golden Chimes’ in the early seventies. His signature song equally popular ‘Bethlehem Pure’ still remains the ‘evergreen Christmas song’ over half a century. Perhaps in centuries to come. With ‘Bethlehem Pure’ song his name would still be etched in the hearts of not only Christians, but all Sri Lankans.
Anil, had skill in singing English songs too which was dire inevitability needed for bands at that time.
Anil Bharathi, is in fact, the cousin brother of Chanaka Perera, the ace bassist and leader of Beacons dance band of the 60s and founder member and present leader of Golden Chimes, sang the highly popular song ‘Ada Wei Iru Dina’- his very first original Sinhala pop song. The song ‘Ada Wei Iru Dina’, which he recorded with the Golden Chimes. In the late seventies two songs ‘Tikirimalee ‘and ‘Maa Mulin Lliyu Pempatha’, Anil sang with Clarence and Super Golden Chimes became enormously trendy.
Anil and Ronnie Leitch had a short stint together with the legendary Super Golden Chimes before they disbanded. Anil had sung many other songs which had become instant hits and are heard today too over our air waves. Anil had sung a duet with Indrani Perera for film ‘Damayanthi’ in the late 1970 decade.
Over his musical career a number of song-writers and music directors had aided Anil v.i.z., Clarence Wijewardena, Karunaratna Abeysekara, Premakeerthi de Alwis, Lakpriya de Silva, K.D.K. Dharmawardana, Vernon Perera, H.S. Perera and Rev. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody.
Top-notch beat aggregations of the island such as ‘The Golden Chimes’, ‘The Super Golden Chimes’, SEAC Orchestra, Super Stars, Fortunes, Sunflowers and many more have provided the music for his original recordings.
Anil Bharathi, a resident of Panadura was an old boy of Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa in the 50s, where he pursued his studies. He has sung for the choir at the Holy Emmanuel Church, Moratuwa in his younger days. He is a self-taught self-made musician able to play the guitar and the piano.
-Sunil Thenabadu in Brisbane
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