He is a singer, composer, independent artist, dubbing artist, and, above all, a doting father and lovable husband. We are talking about a musical sensation in Tollywood, Vedala Hemchandra, who maintains a low-key profile yet lives a vibrant life. His voice is so captivating that his recent song ‘Dosthi’ from the Oscar-winning film RRR still runs in the back of every Tollywood buff’s mind when we think of friendship; moreover, he lent his voice to Ajay Devgn, which added more depth to the movie. He has, to his credit, had multiple blockbusters, which makes him one of the most successful playback singers we have now. In a first-of-its-kind conversation, Hemachandra converses with The Pioneer’s Shikha Duggal about his personal life, musical life, and more.
The most notorious kid…
I am the youngest sibling in my family, so I was pampered like a crazy monkey. You could never have seen me sitting in one place! With me in the house, everything was like a full-blown storm. I created a lot of chaos in my childhood — seriously, heavy chaos! My extended relatives, very hysterically, were petrified that HEMACHANDRA was coming over. It’s still the same, guys. Music was another important aspect of my childhood. I learned so much about music from my maternal side!
Admiring the childhood…
I remember there was a very prestigious competition being held in Tirupati, when I was in the seventh grade. So my father promised me a brand new bike if I won it! I won the competition, and there was the bike, but all of a sudden I saw my sister driving it. I still
didn’t understand who really got the gift. (He laughed out loud.) That memory turned out to be a hysterical shock to me! I can also remember my mother sending me to bring milk packets from a nearby kirana, and I ended up playing video games in a cyber cafe. So, once, I got extremely late home, and my parents started to search for me. Approximately after two hours, they found me, but my dad entered with a belt in his hand. That was the day I knew, ‘Oh, my father can also run superfast!’ because I ran for my life!
My father is my partner in crime…
My father was my partner in crime. I was busy burning my energies, and he never stopped me from doing anything. But he never allowed me to indulge in any harmful activities, like any other responsible parent. He was okay with me doing all sorts of irritating stuff. I still come across as a maddening person after a certain point in
time! My father always told me to never let go of your monkeying. That’s what I am passing down to my daughter Shikhara — be a monkey, be funny. Just go ahead and spread happiness, girl! And, as a musician, I am doing a perfect job, so my father is extremely happy with me today.
When over thinking wed risk-taking…
My mother being a musician and my father being an advocate were a mad combination at home. My mom’s demeanor has always been that of a sensitive woman at home. Her tendency to take huge risks will be her last choice in life! On the contrary, my father’s every step is always an endangerment. He’s always okay with what can be the probability at the maximum, so let’s do this! Let’s see how we fall and rise again. Over thinking weds risk-taking (he giggled).
Bad student, still a successful career…
I was pretty good with musical notes, but I studied? Hell no! Again, my father never pressured me to bag that white-collar job. My notes were always incomplete; I never
did homework, and my copies used to be as fresh as coming straight from a stationary shop. I was punished most of the time in school, so my father understood it wasn’t my cup of tea.
My sister is my guru…
My sister used to do chorus for M.M. Keeravani, and I waited with bated breath to collaborate with him. I was my sister’s driver then! (We laughed out loud.) That’s when I met him. I was in the transition phase of my musical career, so I couldn’t have approached him for a gig yet. Finally, in 2019, I went on a musical tour with him in the USA. After returning, I was supposed to work with him for RRR. Again, my luck, the pandemic hit us! I thought the song had slipped from my hand. It was such a high-end film that we weren’t allowed to even record the song from our bases. But he didn’t forget about me; I was overwhelmed. It took two lockdowns for us to finish the RRR album. Then the OSCARS nomination happened. It’s such a sacred place for us. Even if my song wasn’t in the nominations, being a part of such a holy film was my victory from there. I have no high expectations for life! Having spoken about my sister, we were like Tom and Jerry, but the number of times we argue until today is the way our bond is strengthened. If both of us are not fighting, something is wrong between us. Then we end up having a cup of coffee! Most importantly, she’s my guru. I remember that she was a participant with me on the same show, but unfortunately she was evicted before me. She wasn’t worried about her eviction; she was worried about how Hemachandra, who doesn’t even know how to iron his clothes, would survive alone. That’s when I felt so much love for my sister, Himabindu.
A risk-taker…
My career was on a trip during the 2000s — I was at my peak, but I desperately wanted to go to Chennai and do sound engineering. It was taking a lot of time with the kind of success I was facing in my career in the south. Just like my father,
following his steps, I took a risk in 2010 and enrolled myself. I was managing as if for Hyderabadis, I am in Hyderabad, and for my college, I am in Chennai. Now my daughter is getting trained. Interestingly, she’s into creation at such a young age—just genetics! Randomly, she creates.
Radio stations in Hyd took care of me like a baby…
Radios and FMs actually make us musicians so popular by playing our songs on and off. Especially when I started, it was rage! The radio stations in Hyderabad took care of me like a baby. They were the ones who wanted to see me flourish in this entertainment industry so badly. I have a lot of friends who are radio jockeys! My favorite would be Red FM. I keep telling my daughter about this. She always asks me to tune into this song or that song in the car, but I tune into FM so that she learns.
Successful in dubbing…
When SA RE GA MA PA happened, the style of the show has changed a lot. Earlier, it was only about music! But we created history when voters were allowed to pass their judgments in our season. It has been commercialised a lot now. After my stint, so many Telugu musicians started trying their luck over there. Dubbing was my
other source of career, which was initiated by Sunitha Garu. She asked me to give it a try. I was sucked into it! It gave me a new perception of watching a film without any background score or CGI. You are equally important to the film actor. I had to feel the emotions of the actor and then dub. Anchoring was slightly so monkeying in me that I wanted to keep it alive. I like showing it on screen — that this is the real me!
When I was lost in the world of glamour…
When I started my career, I was drifting away from my roots. I was so into classical music that I forgot who I was. I was lost in this glamorous world of fame. I’ve got that knack in me to explore this glamorous world in depth then! There came a point when boredom started to hit me because I thought this was only my new world. But I never made my career take an aggressive turn; I was okay with my slow pace and giving chartbusters steadily. Sudden jumps, sudden falls—it was never like this for me. I am not just a singer; that’s why! I love all the songs I do. Dosti was such a
different genre for me to sing. Even my father always told me to always look for joy in your compositions, not pleasure. Even now, my point of view is that I am enjoying doing this interview and telling you about my life experiences. I am not at all worried about how it is going to be depicted in the print.
Sravana Bhargavi filled me love and life…
I was going through a devastating breakup before I met Sravana. I was going through that phase of “love is not meant to be”. All of a sudden, I became a workaholic! Then she came like a fresh whiff of air when I was recording, and I found some life in me. I struggled to speak to her, but it finally worked out. Sravana and I never mix our friend circles! We don’t nudge each other like a typical couple;
we know how to mind our own business. We have come to the stage where silence between us is also very comfortable. When it comes to my daughter today, it will sound weird, but both of us, as prolific singers, still don’t want her to experience paparazzi at such a young age. We don’t want her to feel like my parents are the
ultimate rockstars! Her friends already try to instill that in her; it’s too much for her to handle. I only talk about practical things with her! We don’t show that pride in ourselves when people come up to us for selfies. My father did the same with us when my mother turned out to be so popular in the industry.
When I didn’t have the guts to traverse through Indie music…
Independent music has been on the scene for so many years, but it’s only now that it’s been given its overdue push. I grew up listening to K.K. and Shaan, and they gave a lot of proliferation to indie music in the nineties. Unknowingly, this instinct to compose music is only to express my feelings. I composed a lot of it in recent years, but I was so apprehensive about making it public. Will my fans understand? I lacked
confidence, and I was assuming this is not the trend these days! Like others, even I fell for the rat race in this industry. I indulged totally in this in 2016, but I never had the guts to release those! I was busy enjoying my commercial success and didn’t want to let go of it either. It took me four years to get over this fear. After the first release, I realized listeners are waiting for a lot of indie music, and they are not judgmental! Then the pandemic hit us. Initially, I misunderstood it as a wrong signal that the universe was asking me to shut up and not engross in this genre, but the pandemic actually transformed me because we had nothing to do. It forced me to take some risks in life! Until then, I was like a lifeless musician.
Getting involved in a fake drug controversy…
My family is weird; even if I am feeling a tad bit negative, the humor is flowing so much in the house that it takes a second for me to instantly laugh. There have been times when the music director has gotten upset with me, but my family pulled me out of it. Another memory is when unnecessary crap was being spread by the media when I wasn’t married. I am only answerable to my parents! I was getting back-to-back calls from Telugu channels, and I was just laughing on the call. They involved me in a drug controversy! They said my name was on the list. I was shocked! So the journalist calls up and says, ‘Bro, your name is on the list, so would you like to pass any comments?’ and I instantly replied, ‘I’ll speak to the police directly’. He started to persuade me to come live on his channel, and then came the threat that they were going to concoct a story of their own and run on the channel! I asked him to go ahead with so much dignity. He ended up asking for a bribe; he wanted to do a settlement. The list was cross-checked, and the name turned out to be HEMACHANDRA REDDY.
All set to shake up Hyd with his Indie concert…
Coming up with an indie gig now, telugu listeners are also really waiting for this independent music scene to grow in the city. A lot of artists have such huge fandoms; I have no idea what’s stopping them from doing this! It’s the first ever Telugu independent gig happening in the city. I am also going to perform some unreleased songs. The pub owner was amused! He cross-checked, ‘Sir, are you sure?’ See, this is the only industry that is welcoming. So many artists have a
second career because of Tollywood! They don’t just come, record, and go. They do Telugu shows too! I was a part of a reality television show. The music director, Saluri Koteswara Rao, who flew me down to Mumbai, generally doesn’t do that. He waited for me to finish the competition, which took him three months to do his recording. Can you imagine? I was a nobody until then. I was supposed to do one song but went on to deliver three for him! He’s my godfather. He was the one, who introduced me to the late S.P. Balasubramanyam sir, and then he introduced me to Mani Sharma; I never turned back after that. S.P. sir knew me since my childhood; he knew my mother extremely well. Both of them delivered a lot of live concerts together!
RAPID FIRE:
Pinch me moment: When I sang before A.R. Rahman, he called me to his green room, and I kept on wondering if he had something serious to say to me. He has such a cute voice! He’s appreciating me, and I am doing well. That day, I asked my lyricist friend to pinch me!
One thing you discovered about yourself: That I can design a concert on my own like a Broadway musical. I discovered a director in me.
Spiritual side?: Stay with yourself.
Proudest moment in your career: Encouraging an independent music scene in Hyderabad
Favourite place to visit: Dublin
