Profile

Hemanta Sharma was born on December 19 at Triveni VDC, Nawalparasi to Danda Pani Sharma and Sumitra Sharma. He is the youngest in his family and has an elder brother and an elder sister.

He spent his childhood in various places of Nepal, at times he used to be in Jomson and at times in Syangja. The reason behind traveling so much was because of his father's duty call. Wherever he was posted, he used to go along with him. He informs that since his early days, he was a very simple person by nature. He relates, "I was not an extraordinary kid but was like any other normal child. I did enjoy playing games, going for swimming, climbing trees and at times being mischievous."

He did his basic educational studies in Jomsom and informs us that he changed many schools. "In fact, I moved to seven different schools. However, I managed to pass my SLC from Ratna Rajya Higher Secondary School, Kapilvastu and completed my Bachelors from Multiple Campus, Bhairahawa."

ENTRY IN THE MUSIC SCENE

Since the time he remembers, Hemanta had a keen interest in music. He is the first one in the family who has made it into the music field. He informs that in his early days, most of the time he used to tune into the radio and spent hours just listening to it. It was in 1989 that he gathered up his guts to perform on stage for the first time. That was while he was in Bhairahawa. During that time, along with some of his friends, he had even formed a band called 'Ankuran Sangeet Samuha'. They used to perform at various cultural shows and musical events. They even came up with a collection album titled 'Jiwan Saili'. As the marketing and distribution strategy was not good enough 'Jiwan Saili' went without much notice.

After this, he realized that if he wanted to improve his passion for music, sticking to local shows would not help much. Because of this realization, in 1995, he came to Kathmandu. The same year, he joined 'Monalisa Restaurant' as a part time ghazal singer. In 2000, he came up with his first solo album 'Oh Priye'. The album comprised of his collection which he had written down the lyrics for, from 1996 to 2000. The songs on the album was critically very well-received but commercially, it didn't.

In 2002, he released his second album 'Bishesh'. One of the songs on it called "Maya Sarai Mahango" clicked and this single not only introduced Hemanta as a talented singer but also made him pretty popular, especially among the music circles of Kathmandu. Since then, he has already come up with two albums -- 'Lokpriya' in 2004 and 'Aathmiya' in 2006. The latter album received quite a good feedback from the market as well, all thanks to one song called "Phool Hau Bhaney Rasai Deu".

These days, among other genres, pop, hip-hop and remix flavored songs are quite in demand. However, Hemanta has chosen to make his career in the Music field by singing modern songs. He says, "A singer must have the caliber to sing every kind of song. That is the main reason (if you have cared enough to notice), starting with my first album to the latest one, I have tried to incorporate pop, modern and folk songs in my album," adding, "However, I do not want to categorize my music as pop, modern or folk songs. One typical factor of me is that I go for melody and simplicity as far as my songs are concerned."

Hemanta is a personal favorite of many people and so far he is doing pretty good for himself in this crazy and competitive Music Industry of Nepal. He cares to inform us that he has not received any formal education regarding music. "I do try to learn certain skills from senior musicians. I have realized that the knowledge of classical music helps a lot if you are serious in this field. That is why, I even went for a three months course in that vocation from Gurudev Kamat."

In context to doing musical shows, he has traveled to most of the places of Nepal. On the other hand, when it comes to doing shows abroad he has only performed at a concert in Qatar.

ME/MYSELF

I am a very simple person and I am like every other human being. I do not find myself different from any other individual. If I like something, I have this habit of appreciating it, but if I don't like something I give my opinion about it. I like creations rather than the creator. I might not like someone but that does not mean that I hate the person's work as well. If the person is doing good, I appreciate it as well. I believe that I am a very good listener.

LOVE/MARRIAGE

I take love as something which is so very confusing and not convincing. I just cannot understand the whole theory behind it! It is not that I have not fallen in love but seriously, I do not know how to define it in words. Marriage on the other hand is the outcome of any good relationship.

He preferred love marriage to the arranged one and in the process got married to Ritu Silwal. It has already been 10 years since he tied the knot and now they have two sons -- Hirak Hemant Bhattarai and Hardik Hemant Bhattarai.

Hemanta's last name is Sharma but he named his sons Bhattarai. He says that the reason for doing so is because his forefathers were Bhattarais. "My father decided to use Sharma as his last name and he did the same with me and since I always liked my previous last name, I decided to change it.