Saman Lenin

{{Short description|Sri Lankan Singer}} {{Infobox person |honorific_prefix = Visharad |name = Saman Lenin විශාරද සමන් ලෙනින් |other_names = |image = |image_size = |alt = |caption = Saman Lenin in 2018 |birth_date = {{Birth date and age |1980|05|01|mf=yes}} |birth_name = Kottawa Iniyage Saman Thusitha Lenin Kumara |birth_place = Galle, Sri Lanka |death_date = |death_place = |death_cause = |resting_place = |resting_place_coordinates =  |education = St. Aloysius College |alma_mater = University of the Visual & Performing Arts |spouse = |children = |awards = Best Singer |father = |mother = |relatives = |website = {{URL|http://samanlenin.com/}} |footnotes = |occupation = {{hlist|Singer|musician|ethno-musicologist}} | module = {{Infobox musical artist | embed = yes | instrument = Vocals | genre = {{hlist|Folk music||{{nowrap|Indian classical}}}} | years_active = 2007–present | label = {{hlist|MEntertainment|}} | associated_acts = Sashika Nisansala Nilakshi Helapitiya Rohana Weerasinghe Sandhya Kumari Ravana Brothers }} }}

Visharad '''Kottawa Iniyage Saman Thusitha Lenin Kumara''' (Sinhala: සමන් ලෙනින්; born 1 May 1980), popularly as '''Saman Lenin''', is a Sri Lankan vocalist, musician, and ethno-musicologist. He is popular in Sri Lanka as an exponent of Sri Lankan folk music, and incorporates traditional folk tunes into his music.<ref>{{Cite web |title=It is a lie fabricated by the media that the younger generation does not appreciate our things ... My blood dances when I hears the drums of the low country - Saman Lenin |url=https://divaina.com/sunday/index.php/mee/33-atambula-9/9208-2019-04-11-11-00-17 |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Divaina}}</ref> Despite a relatively short career in the music industry thus far, he has sung over 200 songs, and is considered by many to be one of the most talented folk artists in Sri Lanka.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civilization at the State Music Festival Raising the voice and Loss of musical talent |url=https://www.divaina.com/2016/01/21/sarasavi%202.html |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Divaina}}</ref>

== Personal life == He was born on 1 May 1980 in the village called Kottava in Unawatuna, Galle, Sri Lanka as the fifth child of the family. His father Kottava Master was an art teacher. He received education at St. Aloysius College in Galle. At school, he was popular as an athlete where he was included to the school cricket team, swimming and bodybuilding team.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Romantic Evening - Saman Lenin Reflecting on School Love |url=https://divaina.com/sunday/index.php/mee/33-atambula-9/2350-2018-02-15-08-19-53 |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Divaina}}</ref> He played in the college cricket team for the under 16 to under 19 team and later served as team leader. At that time Dennis Lillee selected 17 of the best school fast bowlers in Sri Lanka and did a bowling camp, where Lenin was among the 17 best fast bowlers in Sri Lanka.<ref>{{Cite web |title=If it wasn't for the musician, I would have been on the Sri Lankan cricket team - Saman Lenin |url=https://www.divaina.com/2015/07/19/meewitha04.html |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Divaina}}</ref> At that time, he also excelled in art and sculpture. He has four elder brothers and one younger sister.<ref name="sarasaviya">{{Cite web |title=Our voice in the world of singing: Saman Lenin |url=http://archives.sarasaviya.lk/2017/05/04/?fn=sa1705047 |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Sarasaviya}}</ref>

In 2004, he entered University of the Visual & Performing Arts, in Colombo and obtained a degree in Ethno-musicology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saman Lenin bio |url=https://sailingconductors.com/en/artists-2/saman-lenin/ |access-date=2021-05-23 |website=Sailing Conductors|date=20 July 2012 }}</ref> Then he became a lecturer of the same university.<ref name="dinamina">{{Cite web |title=Outside music is lot to us than our own music - Saman Lenin |url=http://www.dinamina.lk/2017/02/28/විශේෂාංග/30446 |access-date=2021-05-23 |website=Dinamina}}</ref>

== Career == During his university life, Lenin learned folk music under renowned musicians such as Rohana Baddage and Saman Panapitiya. In 2005, he rose to prominence after contesting in 'Rajatha Rashmi', a musical reality contest organized by the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. Finally he won the second place in the contest. Then he was selected for the background singing for the film ''Siri Parakum'' directed by Somaratne Dissanayake. The song 'Ambaruvo' from the film had a special impact on establishing his different voice in the music industry in this country. He further established himself in the field of film background vocals and contributed to Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne's film ''Paththini'' and Lalith Pannipitiya's film ''Sangile''.<ref name="sarasaviya" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=I do not want to be labeled Pattini Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne |url=https://www.divaina.com/2016/05/08/meewitha07.html |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Divaina}}</ref>

He has gained popularity for his singing in a number of Sri Lankan teledramas and participated in many cultural events.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Embrace explosion of colourful culture |url=https://www.soundtelegraph.com.au/news/perth/embrace-explosion-of-colourful-culture-ng-b88455092z |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Sound Telegraph|date=28 April 2017 }}</ref> In 2011 at the 8th Television State Awards, he won the Best Singer award for the serial ''Yasa Isuru''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rupavahini State Awards Ceremony- Result 2011-2012 |url=https://www.culturaldept.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124&Itemid=73&lang=si |access-date=2021-01-30 |website=Department of Cultural Affairs - Sri Lanka}}</ref> In 2014, he sang the theme song for the television serial ''Kolamba Ahasa'' for which in 2015, he won the award for the Best Vocalist at 2015 Sumathi Awards.<ref>{{cite web|title=Best singer of "Sumathi Awards 2015"|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/sinhalese/en/audiotrack/best-singer-sumathi-awards-2015-sri-lanka-and-well-known-young-sri-lankan-folk-musician|publisher=sbs.com}}</ref> In 2015, he started his solo musical concert 'Sneha Warsha'. The first concert was held at the Law Faculty of the University of Colombo.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Give words to the language, Perform in that manner: Saman Lenin's Music Revolution |url=https://www.divaina.com/2015/04/05/nimna05.html |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Divaina}}</ref> In the same year, he was awarded the Best Singer award at the State Music Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Music Awards |url=https://www.divaina.com/2015/12/25/cineart04.html |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Divaina}}</ref> In 2016, he was awarded the Bunka Award by the Japan Friendship and Cultural Fund (JSFCF).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saman Lenin got Bunka Award |url=https://mirrorarts.lk/news/2269-saman-lenin-got-bunka-award |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=mirrorarts|date=22 November 2017 }}</ref>

In 2017, he performed a concert called 'Gigurum Warsha' along with Nilakshi Halapitiya. In addition, he made another concert with Rohana Beddage for the first time with the tile 'Desaman Bedda'. Both concerts were also performed in Australia in 2019.<ref name="dinamina" /> In 2018, he won the Best Singer award at Raigam Tele'es for the serial ''Eliya Kanda''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sarasaviya.lk/2018/03/29/?fn=sa1803299 |title=Raigam Tele'es 2017 award winners |publisher=Sarasaviya |accessdate=29 March 2018}}</ref> He has also sung in the film ''Siri Parakum'', directed by Somaratne Dissanayake, the song ''Ambaruwo'', which became famous. He has performed internationally many times in Australia, India, Thailand, Doha, Maldives, Dubai.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World music legend headlines spiritual concert tonight at Festival 2018 |url=https://www.miragenews.com/world-music-legend-headlines-spiritual-concert-tonight-at-festival-2018/ |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Mirage News}}</ref> On 9 June 2018, he participated to the musical concert 'Gee Mal Suwanda Gee Miyasi with Makaranda Pasvida Gayum Asiriya' held at the Nelum Pokuna Theater.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Makaranda', fragrance on the 9th at the Lotus Pond |url=https://www.silumina.lk/2018/06/02/රසඳුන/‘මකරන්ද-සුවඳ-9-වැනිදා-නෙළුම්-පොකුණේදී |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Silumina}}</ref> In the same year, he sang the song 'Samasara Kanda Laga' which deals with the Samasara Hill Landslide tragedy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heart touching song written on a bus 'Samasara Kanda Laga' |url=https://www.silumina.lk/2018/07/07/රසඳුන/බස්-රථ%C2%ADය%C2%ADකදී-ලියැ%C2%ADවුණු-හද-සසල-කර%C2%ADවන-ගීතය-‘සාම%C2%ADසර-කන්ද-ළඟ’ |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Silumina}}</ref> In 2019, he released the solo hits 'Amude' and 'Amude 2', both songs received large fanbase and popularity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube Hit අමුඩෙ |url=https://www.deshaya.lk/article/52/හදසර/10608/අනේ-ඕකගේ-සරම-කැඩීයං-----අමුඩේ-අමතක-වෙලා-තිබීයන්--- |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Deshaya}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The poem, which was sung with the pain of separation, turned into a song |url=http://www.silumina.lk/2019/02/09/රසඳුන/ගීය%C2%ADකට-පෙර%C2%ADළුණු-විරහ-වේද%C2%ADනා%C2%ADවෙන්-කියූ-වස්-කවිය-අමුඩේ |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Silumina}}</ref>

Apart from singing, he also worked as an actor. His maiden television acting came through the television serial ''Yasa Isuru''. Then he acted in the serials ''Ransiri Mal'' and ''Paanamankada''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=I'm not an artist trying to go wild ... Saman Lenin |url=https://divaina.com/sunday/index.php/deshapalana2/17242-2021-04-15-11-59-43 |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Divaina}}</ref>

==Playback singing== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Film !! Ref. |- | 2012 || ''Super Six'' || |- | 2014 || ''Siri Parakum'' || |- | 2016 || ''Paththini'' || |- | 2018 || ''Aladin Saha Puduma Pahana'' || |- | 2019 || ''Sangile'' || |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://samanlenin.com/ Official website] * [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10045204/ Saman Lenin] at IMDb

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenin, Saman}} Category:Living people Category:Sinhalese musicians Category:1980 births Category:21st-century Sri Lankan male singers Category:Sri Lankan musicologists Category:Sri Lankan Buddhists