From passion to purpose: Anand Ramanathan and rise of Tamil live entertainment in SL

Friday, 29 August 2025 05:49 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Colombo is buzzing. Posters flutter, radio stations loop snippets, and social media is alive with anticipation. On 6 September at Havelock Grounds, the legendary Music Director and Singer, Deva, the “King of Gaana”, will take the stage, joined by an ensemble of iconic voices that have defined Tamil music for decades. For fans, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience—a chance to see history meet the present.

Behind this cultural crescendo stands the Aaraa Entertainment visionary Founder Anand Ramanathan, a man who has spent two decades transforming concerts into ecosystems—blending entertainment with empowerment, and turning passion into purpose.

Aaraa Entertainment Founder Anand Ramanathan

Born in Colombo and educated at Isipathana College, Anand’s journey into live entertainment has been anything but conventional. What began as a love for art and music in his school days evolved into a career that now defines him as one of Sri Lanka’s most influential cultural curators.

He began as a drawing artist for serialised novels at Thinakural newspaper before moving into marketing. That shift sparked an entrepreneurial fire, and soon he was running his own advertising firm—an early immersion into branding, creativity, and strategy. But music kept calling him back. Supporting his brother’s Shruthi Live Band rekindled his love for performance and production, and before long he was ready to take the leap.

In 2002, Anand made his debut as an event producer with Youth Star Night, featuring top Indian artists including S.P.B. Charan, Vijay Yesudas, Venkat Prabhu, Tippu, and Yugendran. The success of this event marked the beginning of a career that would redefine live entertainment in Sri Lanka.

Today, Aaraa Entertainment stands as the country’s leading event management powerhouse. With over two decades of experience, Anand has orchestrated concerts that blend precision, creativity, and professionalism, bringing international legends and rising stars to Sri Lankan audiences.

SPB Golden Night – a moving tribute to the late S.P. Balasubramaniam.
Unforgettable 90’s – where Kumar Sanu and Sadhana Sargam transported audiences back to Bollywood’s golden era.
Alexperience – a fusion of humour and music with Alexander Babu.
Trio Ensemble – featuring Rajhesh Vaidhya, Stephen Devassy, and Flute Navin in a spellbinding performance.
Yuvan’s Long Drive Colombo – a unique road-trip-meets-concert with Yuvan Shankar Raja.

“Aaraa isn’t just about music or lights,” Anand explains. “It’s about creating moments, milestones, and history.” Every production is a platform for artists, technical crews, and young professionals to gain exposure, mentorship, and real-world experience. Vendors, sponsors, and tourism all benefit from the ripple effect of these large-scale events, making each concert a lesson in economic and skill development.

Each production carries Anand’s unmistakable stamp: meticulous planning, creative storytelling, and uncompromising professionalism. For him, every detail matters: sound checks, stage safety, punctuality, vendor payments, artist dignity. “It takes years to build a name and one careless moment to destroy it,” he often says. That philosophy has turned Aaraa into the gold standard of Tamil entertainment in Sri Lanka.

For decades, Sri Lanka’s Tamil music scene struggled for oxygen—less media space, fewer sponsors, and the perception that Tamil entertainment was “niche”. Anand answered with scale and consistency. He built stages that felt like stadiums, even on school grounds. He programmed concerts that honoured nostalgia but embraced new sounds. In his shows, a melody from the ‘90s could sit comfortably beside a rap verse or a gaana drop—because that is what Tamil music sounds like today: plural, layered, alive.

Curation is only half the craft. The rest is orchestration; a hundred moving parts no one applauds until one breaks. Anand’s definition of “show day” begins when the first truck leaves the yard and ends when the last usher gets a ride home. And he is literally in the middle of it all.

Aaraa’s model is intentionally multi-scale. And when a major Tamil concert goes up in Colombo, it is no longer just entertainment—it is employment. A DJ buys better monitors, a stagehand becomes a rigger, a catering team grows into an events vendor, an undergraduate volunteer discovers a career in production.

The impact of Aaraa concerts ripples beyond music. Hotels fill, restaurants thrive, and Colombo earns visibility as a cultural hub. By bringing icons like Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Vijay Antony, and now Deva to Sri Lanka, Anand asserts that local stages deserve global talent.

Anand’s story is also inseparable from his commitment to service. Since 2007, he has been an active member of the Lions Club of Colombo Gold City, serving in roles from President to District Chief Coordinator. His initiatives have touched healthcare, education, and welfare for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. For him, success means lifting others—not just through music, but through community. Grounded by the unwavering support of his wife, Mangai Anand, and their three children, he carries both family and community as his compass.

Where does he go from here? Bigger stages, yes—but not for their own sake. Anand is exploring new formats and long-form productions that tell Tamil stories with cinematic ambition while retaining the intimacy of live concerts. He wants Sri Lankan crews to be competitive with any regional market. And he wants to deepen the bridge between Sri Lanka and the wider Tamil world—not only importing stars, but exporting standards.

Beneath the ambition is a simple vow: don’t break trust. Play fairly. Treat everyone with dignity—from the headliner to the last load-out hand. Protect the name you’ve built so that the next organiser, the next singer, the next dreamer inherits an industry a little stronger than the one you found.

Ask Anand why he keeps doing it, and he’ll answer with quiet conviction: faith and responsibility. Faith that intention matters. Responsibility to the people who believed him when he said, “We’ll take care of it”. And tomorrow, when another stage begins to rise, he’ll prove it again—quietly, professionally, and with a generosity that extends far beyond the front row.

Through Aaraa, Tamil live entertainment in Sri Lanka has moved from the margins to the mainstream. On stage, it looks like music. Behind the scenes, it feels like trust. And in Anand’s hands, it has become something larger: a promise kept, and a future still unfolding.