Hamsalekha: I learnt my art from folk balladeers

With 375 films under his belt, he is known for introducing conversational Kannada into film songs

Gangaraju aka Hamsalekha holds a unique distinction: he is the only music director to have written 3,500 songs and set them to music for 375 films.

He has also mostly worked in Kannada, and also in the Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam film industries.

Hamsalekha's lyrics and music for Premaloka (1987) and Ranadheera (1988) announced his emergence as the new king of film music. With actor-filmmaker Ravichandran, he set records hard to surpass.

Many milestones came after that. He immortalised idol Dr Rajkumar with a song about the Kannada cause --- 'Huttidare Kannada Nadal Huttabeku' (Akasmika, 1993). Ravichandran never asked him to rework even one tune.

Gangaraju was born on June 23, 1951, to K H Govindaraju and Rajamma. He was influenced by the Kannada ballad culture, which shaped his creative, musical and lyrical abilities. “Lavanikarara Sangha (Association of Ballad Writers-cum-Singers) president Ramachandrappa and vice president Neelakantappa would chat with like-minded people at my father's printing press at Chickpet. I would serve them liquor and snacks. They would compose ballads and render them. My father would print them for circulation," recalls Hamsalekha.

He says Neelakantappa was his mentor. "He would often say that words easily understood should be used for songs. Gradually, I realised he was right," he says.

Pen inspiration

Neelakantappa presented him with a pen that had an ivory-coloured cap with a swan on it.

“While in Class 7, I had written a play titled 'Belakina Mane' under the pen name of 'Hamsalekhani' which won seven prizes. Headmaster Krishnasa, himself a violinist and flautist, was happy. After thinking for a while, he edited out the letter 'ni' from my pen name and asked me to continue as Hamsalekha," he says.

Hamsalekha went on to become the recipient of a National award, six Filmfare awards, seven Karnataka film awards and an honorary doctorate from Bangalore University.

Hamsalekha recalls he had failed in his Class 10 examinations. "My mother had died, and I did not attend the examination and hence failed in Class 10. I later completed MA (Kannada folklore) from the University of Mysore through the distance mode, " he says.

Finding his love

While performing for his brother Balakrishna's orchestra, he met singer Latha, fell in love and married her.

In his younger days, he had led Viveka Ranga, an amateur drama troupe, and travelled across the state staging plays. After some years, he gave up drama and moved to Bengaluru.

Turning point

Director M N Prasad asked Hamsalekha to write a song for the film Triveni (1973). That is when he wrote his first film song ‘Neena Bhagavantha’. But his career took off in 1982 after he met Ravichandran.

Actor N S Rao, who knew of Hamsalekha's abilities, was keen he enter films, an idea Hamsalekha had never seriously pursued.

Around this time, a writer who had collected Rs 5,000 from Ravichandran's father N Veeraswamy for a script and had spent it without writing anything, asked Hamsalekha to write the script on his behalf.

"Ravichandran met me in Hotel Swathi and asked me to accompany him to Madras. I wrote five songs and the script for Naanu Nanna Hendthi (1985) there. He realised my abilities and our journey began," he recalls.

"I understood what was in his mind even before he said a word. He approved of my creations even before I gave birth to them," he says, proudly recalling the rapport with the filmmaker.

The pair parted ways in 2000. “For others, I sat in hotels and wrote songs, but only for Ravichandran and Dr Rajkumar, I sat at their homes," he says.

He is sceptical about teaming up with Ravichandran and scoring for his films again. "I have a lot of respect, love, and sympathy for him. We often meet, but the wavelength is missing. We've already offered the best to the Kannada audiences. There is nothing left to offer," he says.

Hamsalekha talks about the major influences in his life: “Latha is my life companion, Ravichandran my cinema companion and Dr S P Balasubramanyam music companion.”

Second innings

Hamsalekha launched Desi Vidya Samsthe in 2004 to provide free education for children and build a community of performers.

"I toiled for 12 years. However, after PUC, there wasn't even a single boy ready to take my dream forward. Hence, I shut down the institution," he says.

He launched Desi Music Trust in 2000 to provide training for those pursuing B Music, M Music and Hindustani music. He is directing a film called 'Shakunthle'. The work will resume once the Covid-19 pandemic subsides.

"There were many offers for me to act. I had the position of music director. My role as an actor would have reduced my position. Hence, I decided not to act. I will extract acting from actors, but I won't act," he says firmly.

His son Alankar is an actor and musician, while his daughter Nandini is a playback singer.

Iydani flute

Hamsalekha's contribution to folklore is his creation of Iydani, a flute with five holes. He spent six years working on it, and wrote a six-line methodology for playing it. He believes it will bring due recognition for folklore.