Revanth's hold over Sanskrit helped him win Indian Idol 9

LV Revanth does not know Hindi but his grasp over Sanskrit helped him render Bollywood songs with complete ease and win the coveted Indian Idol Season 9 title.

Revanth, who belongs to a Brahmin family from Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, studied Vedic literature and mastered Bhagavad Gita when he was in school.

“That has given him a lot of command over Sanskrit language and it would have definitely helped him in practising Hindi songs,” S Venugopal, a music enthusiast who has been following the 26-year-old’s journey on Indian Idol, observed.

Revanth said in an interview after he won the title that he would like to learn Hindi and make it big in Bollywood - as a reaction to all the mockery he faced during the show.

“When I started my journey in Indian Idol, a lot of people laughed at me for not knowing Hindi very well. I did feel bad about it, initially, but I did not let anything negative affect me and kept my willpower strong,” he said.

“I have big dreams and I have to make it big in Bollywood. I have one eye set on Bollywood and the other on Tollywood, but I want to work on my Hindi first,” he added.

Revanth is already an established singer in the Telugu film industry, Tollywood, but was hesitant to compete in the singing reality show because he was not confident of his hold over Hindi.

“He used to write the Hindi lyrics in Telugu and practise the same for singing. Though some of his friends were also apprehensive about his participation in Indian Idol because if he flopped, it would have demoralised him. But his mother encouraged him a lot and he gradually overcame his flaws,” Venugopal said.

Hyderabad-based singer D Madhuri, who watched Revanth emerge as a singer in Tollywood, said it is not easy for a local singer to establish a career in Bollywood unless one has mastered Hindi language. “That way, Revanth did a remarkable performance because of his positive attitude,” she said.

Revanth, whose original name is Lolla Venkata Revanth Kumar Sharma, is the second Telugu singer to win the Indian Idol title. Sreeram Chandra bagged the title in the Season 5 of the show.

Chandra, however, was lucky to have known the Hindi language very well as he was born and brought up in Hyderabad.

“Sreeram Chandra was very comfortable in speaking Hindi as he had studied in St Andrews College, Secunderabad, where he had several north Indian friends. Moreover, he was brought up in completely cosmopolitan surroundings. So, Hindi was never a problem for him during his journey to the Indian Idol title,” his manager Manmohan told Hindustan Times.

Another popular Telugu singer NC Karunya, who was the first runner-up in Indian Idol in Season 2, also did not have any problem with Hindi. Karunya studied in Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) Public School, Kanchan Bagh in the old city of Hyderabad, which was dominated by north Indian students.

“His music teachers were also from Hindi background and that helped him a lot. It gave him an opportunity to sing Bollywood songs right from childhood,” his mother N Janaki told HT.

However, she feels it is very difficult for non-Hindi singers, especially from the south, to settle down in Mumbai as they don’t get opportunities in Bollywood.

“In the Telugu film industry, we see a lot of Bollywood singers grabbing opportunities. But, it is not the case with Telugu singers to sustain in Bollywood despite having a lot of talent. When our people win titles and awards, they get into news initially but subsequently, they find it difficult to get the footing in Bollywood,” Janaki observed.