Eventhough Sa Re Ga Ma Pa finalist Hemachandra stunned the nation with his rendition this week, he has been eliminated from the grand finale. And, if you think he's depressed, then think again.
"I feel I've come a long long way. And my performance on Friday night was not a defeat but a new beginning," he says from his home town Hyderabad. "I'm coming to Mumbai in a week and yes, I want to pursue my career very seriously in Bollywood. In fact, I'm seriously thinking of buying a flat in Mumbai. It's the only way I can make the city my home."
After this week's performance, Subhash Ghai who was the guest-judge, promised to give Hemachandra a chance to sing for Mukta Arts. "That announcement right before Mr Ghai read the slip announcing my ouster, came as really pleasant surprise. It showed I had made an impression, and he cared. That was really nice of him. The appreciation and praise that I got after being eliminated this week, showed how far I had come since the show started."
Hemachandra's career seems to have taken off in unexpected ways. He's recorded a track for Subi Samuel's Alag and is about to record a whole score with his mentor Aadesh Shrivastava.
"So I'm far from defeated. I'm a positive person. I look at Sa Re Ga Ma Pa as a major step forward. I went all the way to the Top 3. And I am especially happy because I'm the first South Indian to go all the way to the finals," says Hemachandra.
He admits the fact that people in his home territory do not watch Hindi channels went in favour of his competitors Debojit and Vinit. "But people have started watching Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in Hyderabad only to watch me."
As for Debojit's overwhelming support from his home territory, Hemachandra is mature enough to say, "Every mother loves her child the most. It's natural for people of the East to love Debojit the most. Nothing wrong in that…I miss my Sa Re Ga Ma colleagues. I'm coming back to Mumbai. I'm aware that my diction and pronunciation need working on. I've already started taking Urdu classes. I'm going to work really hard, that's for sure."