Personal info
Known for
Music Director
Gender
Male
Date of Birth
1951-06-23
Location
Karnataka, India
Edit pageHamsalekha
Biography
Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and songwriter who has worked in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, dialogue writer, instrumentalist, and conductor, having composed and written over 500 albums.
Hamsalekha has won one National Film Award, six Filmfare Awards in the Best Music Director Category, and seven Karnataka State Film Awards - four for music direction and three for lyrics - and is a recipient of an honorary doctorate from Bangalore University. His collaboration with V Ravichandran resulted in producing blockbuster soundtracks in mainstream Kannada cinema.
Hamsalekha was born as Gangaraju in 1951, to K. H. Govindaraju and Rajamma in Tulasikatte, near Akkipete in Bangalore. After his studies, he was employed in his father's printing press and subsequently joined his brother Balakrishna's orchestra group. Lavani Neelakantappa his teacher modified his name to "Hamsalekha".
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 picturized 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.
