Y Sunita Chowdhary
Dinker Kalvala made a splash with his maiden number Ninnala Lede, and thereafter sang hundred plus songs. He is a lead vocalist in Band Capricio and balances his personal and professional life perfectly. He comes across as a very practical person and also speaks his mind without sounding offensive. Klapboardpost.com asks him why there isn’t enough local talent and if it is wise enough for a playback singer to wait for a movie opportunity. Dinker states that people need freshness always which is good but they aren’t aware of the tremendous potential our Telugu States are blessed with, in the music scene. “If there are six songs in a film, it will be of great help if our folks get to sing four and the rest is given to non-locals. Every State promotes their talent first, sadly, it is the other way round here. Though we come here to become playback singers, we end up doing anything other than that. In a way, it isn’t wrong to make use of the opportunity that comes our way. We don’t know if that will materialise in the first place; sometimes though you take your demo series, you won’t get an opportunity,” he says as a matter of fact. Mani Sharma and Keeravani are probably the only music directors who give chances to local talent. He rues there isn’t financial discipline amongst the musicians and people lack awareness and curiosity to learn. He says only charity, prayer will help you tide over a crisis like this.
Musical beginnings
I was born and brought up in Warangal and moved to Hyderabad for higher school and intermediate. I studied B.Pharmacy in Warangal and finished Masters in the same in London. I worked there for a couple of years and returned to India in 2011. It was when the composing sessions for It’s My Love Story was on, I gave the audition. I am here in the Telugu film industry because of the break given by Madhura Sreedhar. I am a singer basically and have been learning Hindustani Classic and then Carnatic since childhood. I learnt music for around 12 years. I was two and a half years old when I began singing. Mom would play sitar and her Hindustani vocal teacher identified I can sing and I began casual lessons. Serious tutoring happened when I was five years old. I was very good in academics and my parents made sure I had the right mix of academics and art.
Childhood mischief and academics
I would be mischievous and would hardly attend one music class as I was too young to understand music, I just liked to sing and listen to it. My grandad got me a tape recorder, I filled it with sand and the next day I threw it into a well. I would throw spoons, all the cutlery and my mother’s gold bangles into the well. It was a fun-filled childhood, it was very memorable. It was a mix of sport, music academics and fun. I took up B.Pharmacy as I heard a lot of stories on the subject in my childhood. My uncle Dr D R Krishna, was a Dean of B.Pharmacy at Kakatiya University, Warangal and I was influenced by him too. I took M.PC and then took up Pharmacy. I was never interested in engineering and wanted to do something different. I was fascinated by the manufacture of drugs, clinical trials etc. Since post-graduation has more value, I specialised in formulations which is the manufacturing of drugs. I returned to India after working for more than a couple of years and my parents at that point of time were getting homesick.
A switch in career
My application for a USA visa was rejected which is why I went to London. Surprisingly I didn’t have a single backlog and that day I was hurt. I understood there should be a factor called luck. When I came back to India, I immediately began working in a company and around that time I met Madhura Sreedhar. His brother and my dad were colleagues in Kakatiya University. My dad gave his brother a record of my songs which was passed on to Sreedhar. He was impressed and I was called for an audition. I sang and I got selected and the song was Ninna La Lede. I never thought I would be a musician, I thought music would just be a hobby. I went back to Chennai and was working and one evening my pals congratulated me; They apparently saw the news and posted it on my FB. I was 24 or 25 years old when I had to take the decision of switching careers. I was confident that I could take up the work. I got encouragement from family and friends as well. I resigned from my job and got settled in Hyderabad.
Consolidating my singing career
I began getting calls for other recordings, on a regular basis be it for chorus, main tracks or final songs. I was getting sufficient work and Mani Sharma summoned me to the studio. I was working for Mani Sharma and Keeravani in a parallel manner. Kausalya pushed me into the Maa TV super singer contest. She took me into her team and I started interacting with singers in the Telugu film industry. The competition was tough, as others were far more experienced. The contests were healthy and competitive and with every competition, I gained confidence and experience. The vibes that prevailed on the sets was something I can’t forget. The contest strengthened my morale and I got to perform live. In 2017, I participated in a programme conducted by ETV (Swarabhishekam). SP Bala Subramanyam would personally listen to us and would remark.
Turing vocalist in a band
In 2018, I became a lead vocalist in a band called Band Capricio and we performed at different cafes and bars on weekends. It is a Telugu band and we were happy to see a huge crowd turning to hear Telugu music live. We brought back a new era of Telugu music to life again. The band has six members and Capricio in Italian means growing. We met for 15 days and reached a conclusion. They wanted a playback vocalist who can take their band to the next level. It was a big responsibility and I took it up. I didn’t stop play-back singing, I did the rest alongside playback. I still do recordings and shows.
Capricio started as a three-member band, a vocalist, rhythm player and a keyboard player. After that, the bass guitarist, acoustic guitarist and I went as the other vocalist. We have two vocalists now. I balance all my assignments and usually we perform at Tabula Rasa, The Moonshine Project, Prism, Hylife and various other places. We also do private gigs and we are the number one band in Hyderabad. God has been kind and people have been supportive. As a vocalist, performing with precision and accuracy is challenging. In playback, I have a chance to re-do but not here. My personal choice is playback; I enjoy it a lot. On pitching, on delivering lyrics, carrying impact and delivering output, everything has to be perfect. I sang over 100 numbers and Basanthi, Pratikshanam, Ye Kshanam (Cinema Chupistha Mava) and Namminchi from Mahanayukudu did well. I am still waiting for that big break which I couldn’t touch in these nine years.
The Corona Crisis
One should have a strong mind to tide over a crisis. There are wants and needs. As you are growing, think of your needs but desires can wait. A conservative approach is needed. I believe in God, until and unless you do harm to others, nothing bad will happen to you. God will give you a protective shield, my mom always says don’t build your bad Karma. People don’t realise and recognise what others have done to them. Gratitude is very important and remember, we are nobody when we come here. Be it Sreedhar, Kausalya and Sunitha, they all have encouraged me and helped me in every phase. The music industry too is going through a testing time, everyone spends money when they get it; you must always think of a rainy day when there is no show or a recording. There should be an alternative. I and my family contributed whatever we could to a few people during this crisis. Be sincere, have faith in God, love your family. We do Bhajans every day and I also recorded a lot of Hindu and Christian devotionals, composed Raganjali on Madhura audio.
