Rookantha Gunathilake

Rookantha Gunathilake
(රූකාන්ත ගුණතිලක)
Born Mario Glory Rookantha Gunathilake
(1959-09-05) 5 September 1959
Kegalle, Sri Lanka
Nationality Sri Lankan
Other names Ruka
Education St. Anthony's College, Kandy
Occupation Singer, songwriter
Spouse(s) Chandralekha Perera
Children Raini Charuka, Trinita Windy

Mario Glory Rookantha Gunathilake (Sinhalese: රූකාන්ත ගුණතිලක) (born 5 September 1959) is a Sri Lankan singer and songwriter. He started his career as a solo singer in late 1980s. He frequently duets with his wife Chandralekha Perera. His daughter Raini Charuka is also a singer and an actress.

Rookantha is one of the most successful musicians in Sri Lankan disco industry. His albums have sold around 10,000 copies in Sri Lanka. He is known as the person who changed the Sri Lankan music industry in the 1980s with his songs.

Life and career

Early years

Rookantha Gunathilake was born in Kegalle to a middle-class family in Sri Lanka. He loved music from a very young age. As a result, his parents sent him to a music teacher nearby to teach him to play the piano.

Rookantha once said in a radio interview that one of his music teachers at school was not that friendly and punished him several times for not using correct fingering in piano. Also, he found out that he was getting restricted to what the teacher wanted him to learn.

He attended St. Mary's College, Kegalle for primary education. He learned music at his school, St. Anthony's College, Kandy from great musicians such as Stanley Peiris and Cyril Brown.

Music

Rookantha Gunathilake originally pursued a career as a composer in 1976. In 1985, he found himself without a singer to provide vocals on one of his compositions, "Bambara Pahasa." He provided the vocals himself, beginning his career as a singer.

His fourth album Charuka, named after his daughter Raini Charuka Gunathilake, was released in 1997.

[1] The exclusive concert of Rookantha and Chandralekha is 'Ru Sanda Raye' which means "Beauty Moon Night". The first concert was staged at the Elphinston Theatre in Colombo, Sri Lanka in February 1993. To-date it has been staged in many places around the globe including Italy, France Denmark, UK, USA and Bahrain. The 'Ru Sanda Raye' concert has been staged more than 200 times and still counting.

Personal life

Rookantha is married to singer and former actress Chandralekha Perera. They have two daughters, Raini Charuka (born 10 April 1991) and Trinita Windy. Since December 2005, Rookantha and Chandralekha reside in New York City with their family.

Most recent tour, Ru Sanda Raye, took place in between 2005 and 2006.

The mega show of 'Rookantha-Chandralekha Live at Stadium' was held in August 2007 at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.[2]

Discography

  • Aadara Reka (1983)
  • Bambara Pahasa (1988)
  • Diganthaye (1992)
  • Charuka (1997)
  • Mayime Idan
  • Rookantha Non-Stop (Ru hedu gee)
  • H.R. Jothipala Tribute Album

Singles

Solo Tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Hitha Nawathuna Thana" 
2."Sangawanna oya nil nuwan" 
3."Kalakata passe" 
4."Upaharaya" (Produced for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011) 
5."Dura Atha" 
6."Ithin Hadamu Api Aluth Ratak (Let's Make A New Country)" (Produced with Kasun Kalhara for the victory of New Democratic Front (Sri Lanka) at the Sri Lankan presidential election, 2015) 

References

  1. ↑ "Rooka shaken after fire disaster". Daily Mirror. 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  2. ↑ Rookantha Chandralekha Live at Stadium
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