Bathiya and Santhush

Sri Lankan hip hop duo

Bathiya & Santhush , also known as BNS, are a Sri Lankan pop duo consisting of Bathiya Jayakody (born on December 22, 1976) and Santhush Weeraman (born on September 5, 1977), who met while at the "Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music" in Colombo (training mainly under the categories of classical and show tunes). They both were born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They have been one of the most commercially successful music acts in Sri Lanka in the last two decades. Bathiya Jayakody was educated at Ananda College, Colombo while Santhush Weeraman was educated at Royal College, Colombo. Santhush comes from a musical family, his brother Dushyanth Weeraman is also a popular singer in Sri Lanka. Since the inception of their act in 1998, they have over 50 number one hit singles, six platinum selling mainstream albums, four commercially successful EPs and countless movie soundtracks. BNS are one of the biggest musical acts to hit the Sri Lankan musical scene since the 1990s, mixing Sinhala, Tamil, and English rap verses in their originals, while they have also mixed Hindi rap verses in their folkhop remixes bringing out their contemporary style and the music industry in Sri Lanka. BNS became the only Sri Lankan hip hop act to feature Indian singers, namely Hariharan (in the song Yaalpanamen), Asha Bhosle (Dedunna Sedi) and Sonu Nigam (in the song Aachale). BNS is also the only Sri Lankan artistes to have albums under both Sony BMG & Universal Music India. Having performed in over 2000 concerts in Sri Lanka and abroad, BnS marked significant success with their own concert tour series "Neththara Live" with 120 concerts (2005 2008), "Shaheena Live" 40 concerts (2009 2011), "Sarasihina Live" 150 concerts (2011 2014), "BNS Up Close & Personal" 50 Concerts (2015 2018) and their latest concert series "Oba Nisa Celebrating 20 Years of Music" which was launched in 2019. Starting from a musical duo from their home during their early days, BnS Currently are the primary share holders of the BNS Production Group which houses some of the most successful companies in the Sri Lankan entertainment industry companies — Showtown Entertainment event management & production, Saregama Music Digital Audio Production, Saregama Films, Saregama Digital Content Acquisition & Management and Leap Strategic Concepts.

Bathiya Jayakody was born to a military family. His father was late Maj. Gen. Nihal Jayakody and mother Mohini Jayakody. His singing abilities come from his mother's side. His maternal grandmother Somi Singhika Basnayake who hailed from Hillwood College, Kandy, was in the college choir and his mother a classically trained pianist and a piano tutor. Bathiya started classical piano music from the age of seven and continued to excel in music throughout his school career.

He started his education in Holloway Primary School in India and upon return in 1984, he entered Isipathana College, Colombo for a brief period. In 1988, he joined Ananda College, Colombo, where he later held the position of Deputy Head Prefect in 1995 and was decorated as a President Scout of the Scout Troop in 1994. After his secondary education at Ananda College, he completed his degree and obtained BSc (Hon) Business from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

While studying western classical music privately, Bathiya was a member of the first Ananda College Senior Brass Band where he played the alto saxophone and occasionally filled in for the percussion section. He was also a pianist with the western music society. He was a founding member and a lead vocalist of the school band. Winning many awards at inter school competitions, Bathiya soon became a known figure in the school's music circuit as a college musician during the mid 90s. He later started learning the music technology with the Sri Lankan music artist Dilup Gabadamudalige. He also joined the Marry Anne Singers Colombo and studied opera, jazz and Broadway singing under the Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music. During the late 90s, Bathiya worked as a freelance vocalist singing for radio jingles and commercials together with Ranga Dassanayake. During this period, Bathiya Jayakody and Santhush Weeraman collaborated on a few projects, which led to the formation of BnS.

Santhush Weeraman was born on the 5th of September, 1977 to Nalaka Weeraman, a retired marketing director at Richard Pieris. He is the elder brother of the singer Dushyanth Weeraman.

Santhush studied at Royal College, Colombo where he excelled at both music, art, & sports as well as academics. He completed his bachelor's degree, with a double major in Marketing and Management.

Santhush Weeraman's mother hails from a musical family which influenced his entry to music from a young age.