Hamsalekha

Gangaraju (born 23 June 1951), popularly known by his stage name Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, dialogue writer, instrumentalist and a conductor, composed and written for over 500 feature films.

Hamsalekha is usually referred to by the title Naadha Brahma (English: The Supreme God of Music) who is considered to be the major cause for the change in the music composing and lyric writing style which would appeal much to the younger generation.[2] He integrated folk and introduced western musical sensibilities into the mainstream cinema. He is also accredited for introducing many musical talents (singers, composers and lyricists) to the industry.

Hamsalekha has won one National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards in the Best Music Director Category; seven Karnataka State Film Awards – four for music direction and three for lyrics – and is a recipient of an honorary doctorate from Bangalore University.[3]

Hamsalekha was born as Gangaraju in 1951, to K. H. Govindaraju and Rajamma in Tulasikatte, near Akkipete in Bangalore.[1] After his studies, he was employed in his father’s printing press and subsequently joined his brother Balakrishna’s orchestra group.[4] He had a huge flair for writing poetry and forming a tune for his works. He renamed himself as “Hamsalekhani” since he always used to write with a “Swan”(Kannada : Hamsa) brand pen given by Lavani Neelakantappa his then Guru. Later, his teacher modified his name as “Hamsalekha”.[5] He was introduced into feature films by director M. N. Prasad, who provided an opportunity to write a song for the film Triveni (1973). The song “Neena Bhagavantha” was his first release picturised on actor Udaykumar. His debut film as a musician was the 1981 unreleased film Rahuchandra. Officially, his cinema career started as a dialogue and lyric writer for the film Naanu Nanna Hendthi (1985). Later his popularity peaked only after his association with actor-director Ravichandran. Premaloka, released in 1987, brought them together for a collaboration that would endure for over 12 years.

Hamsalekha is married to Latha Hamsalekha who was a playback singer in the 1990s. The couple have a son named Alankar and two daughters named Tejaswini and Nandini. Alankar is associated with films as an actor and musician. Few of his released and unreleased movies are Sugghi, Tapori and Roja. Tejaswini is associated with film direction, acting and directing plays, she has done her master’s in theater from Bangalore University and directed many plays in association with her father Hamsalekha. Nandini began her playback singing career with the film Sixer (2006).[6]