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Vanraj Bhatia is a Sound Indian born on 31 may 1927
Vanraj Bhatia (born 1927) is an Indian music composer, who is best known for providing music for most of Shyam Benegal's films, and for his private albums with Music Today. Although he gave good music to many art movies, he never came to main-stream commercial movies, therefore, his success was limited.
During the 1970s and 1980s he worked with many art film makers in India. In the 1990s he composed the music of Vijay Singh's international film Jaya Ganga (1996). He won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for Tamas in 1988, and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989. Padmashree for 2012 has been conferred upon him in field of Art - Music.
Born in 1927 in Bombay, Vanraj Bhatia trained in Western classical music while studying at the Elphinstone College in Mumbai for M.A. (English Honours); after graduating in 1949 he left for the Royal Academy of Music, London, to study music composition, which he passed with a Royal Academy Gold Medal in 1954.
Thereafter he entered the Paris Conservatory where he studied with Nadia Boulanger and Howard Ferguson between 1954 and 1959. During his studies abroad he received various scholarships, including the Sir Michael Costa Scholarship (1951-4), a Rockefeller Fellowship (1954-8), and a French Government Scholarship (1957-8).
Career
In 1960, he started his career as Reader in Musicology in charge of Western Music, at the Faculty of Music Delhi University, where he stayed until 1965.
Meanwhile, in 1959, he created his first advertising jingle for Shakti Silk Sarees. From that point on he became one of the pioneering ad jingle makers in India, and also one of the most successful, later moving to Mumbai and working for the advertising industry. In all he has created over 7000 scores for advertising jingles, corporate and business films.
His first film as a music composer was Ankur (1974), and he soon became a regular composer for Shyam Benegal and other art film makers of the time. His most noted works in this period are Manthan (1976), Bhumika(1977), Junoon (1978), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Trikal (1985) and Mandi (1983) and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983).
He has also created music for Indian theatre productions such as “Tughlak” and “Andha Yug”
In the following decade, his work was heard constantly on Indian television with the title scores for TV series like Khandaan, Yatra, Lifeline, Discovery Of India, Wagle Ki Duniya, and the made-for-TV film Tamas (1987), for which he received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1988.
In the 1990s, he worked in many commercial Hindi films as well as providing background scores for many other films, working on over 40 films during his career. His most noted works were for Shyam Benegal's film Sardari Begum in 1996 and for Vijay Singh's international film Jaya Ganga.
In 2012, the first act of his opera Agni Varsha was premiered in Queens, New York.
Source : Wikidata
Vanraj Bhatia
Nationality Inde
Birth 31 may 1927
Death 7 may 2021 (at 93 years)
Awards Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Birth 31 may 1927
Death 7 may 2021 (at 93 years)
Awards Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Vanraj Bhatia (born 1927) is an Indian music composer, who is best known for providing music for most of Shyam Benegal's films, and for his private albums with Music Today. Although he gave good music to many art movies, he never came to main-stream commercial movies, therefore, his success was limited.
During the 1970s and 1980s he worked with many art film makers in India. In the 1990s he composed the music of Vijay Singh's international film Jaya Ganga (1996). He won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for Tamas in 1988, and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989. Padmashree for 2012 has been conferred upon him in field of Art - Music.
Biography
Early life and educationBorn in 1927 in Bombay, Vanraj Bhatia trained in Western classical music while studying at the Elphinstone College in Mumbai for M.A. (English Honours); after graduating in 1949 he left for the Royal Academy of Music, London, to study music composition, which he passed with a Royal Academy Gold Medal in 1954.
Thereafter he entered the Paris Conservatory where he studied with Nadia Boulanger and Howard Ferguson between 1954 and 1959. During his studies abroad he received various scholarships, including the Sir Michael Costa Scholarship (1951-4), a Rockefeller Fellowship (1954-8), and a French Government Scholarship (1957-8).
Career
In 1960, he started his career as Reader in Musicology in charge of Western Music, at the Faculty of Music Delhi University, where he stayed until 1965.
Meanwhile, in 1959, he created his first advertising jingle for Shakti Silk Sarees. From that point on he became one of the pioneering ad jingle makers in India, and also one of the most successful, later moving to Mumbai and working for the advertising industry. In all he has created over 7000 scores for advertising jingles, corporate and business films.
His first film as a music composer was Ankur (1974), and he soon became a regular composer for Shyam Benegal and other art film makers of the time. His most noted works in this period are Manthan (1976), Bhumika(1977), Junoon (1978), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Trikal (1985) and Mandi (1983) and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983).
He has also created music for Indian theatre productions such as “Tughlak” and “Andha Yug”
In the following decade, his work was heard constantly on Indian television with the title scores for TV series like Khandaan, Yatra, Lifeline, Discovery Of India, Wagle Ki Duniya, and the made-for-TV film Tamas (1987), for which he received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1988.
In the 1990s, he worked in many commercial Hindi films as well as providing background scores for many other films, working on over 40 films during his career. His most noted works were for Shyam Benegal's film Sardari Begum in 1996 and for Vijay Singh's international film Jaya Ganga.
In 2012, the first act of his opera Agni Varsha was premiered in Queens, New York.
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Filmography of Vanraj Bhatia (49 films)
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Halla Bol (2008)
, 2h30Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
Genres Drama
Themes Films about television
Actors Ajay Devgn, Vidya Balan, Pankaj Kapur, Darshan Jariwala, Sanjay Mishra, Anupam Shyam Saikia
Roles Music
Rating59%
Ashfaque (Ajay Devgn) is a small town boy aspiring to be a film star in the Hindi film industry. He joins a street theatre group run by a reformed dacoit Sidhu (Pankaj Kapoor), who uses street theatre as a medium to bring about an awakening in the masses. Ashfaque struggles to give a creative vent to the actor in him in order to realise his dreams. Ashfaque's determined struggle pays off and he gets a break in films. He gets a new screen name – Sameer Khan. With the passage of time, he moves up the success ladder in a very short time.
Escape From Taliban (2003)
, 2h46Genres Drama, War, Thriller
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Bollywood
Actors Manisha Koirala, Hansika Motwani, Alyy Khan
Rating45%
À la fin des années 1980, Sushmita Banerjee, une jeune Indienne, épouse par amour un homme d'affaires afghan avec lequel elle part vivre dans un village proche de Kaboul. Elle y ouvre un petit dispensaire mais l'arrivée au pouvoir des Talibans rend sa vie de plus en plus insupportable et elle décide de s'enfuir.
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romance
Actors Milind Soman, Tanuja, Meera Vasudevan, Rajendranath Zutshi, Asif Basra, Manish Prakash Chaudhari
Rating62%
Radha (Meera Vasudevan) is with an advertising agency, and has a chance to see and meet prominent models. She meets her dream boy, Vikram Verma (Milind Soman), on one such day. Needless to state, she is madly in love with him, but he has eyes for his girlfriend, the gorgeous model, Maggie (Namrata Barua). Radha's attempts to make him notice her are in vain, and in desperation she confides in her grandma (Tanuja), for a solution. Her grandma, who wants Radha to get over her crush and get on with her life, instructs her to follow a number of simple rules, which will make Vikram notice her.
Fertility (2000)
, 2h14Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama
Themes Feminist films, Political films
Actors Shabana Azmi, Rajit Kapur, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Nandita Das, Surekha Sikri, Shrivallabh Vyas
Roles Music
Rating73%
The movie tells the story of a middle aged Muslim woman Gazala (Shabana Azmi), who is ill treated by her husband and sent back to her parent's home, just because she is unable to give birth to a son. Gazala does have a daughter Salma (Rajeshwari Sachdev). The plot revolves around Gazala's stay at her mother's home and the problems faced by the women of the house, being her mother and sisters-in-law. The film is a beautiful description of the problems faced by women in the name of fertility, or in a different sense the urge to have a male child, especially in rural India. Shyam Benegal provides a masterpiece, reflecting on the sorrowful plight of rural Indian women. The irony lies in the point where the movie begins with a scene which shows a bull being brought to impregnate a buffalo. Five different women, each with a different story depicting the harsh realities of a woman's life.
The Conflict (1999)
, 2h6Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama
Actors Rajeshwari Sachdev, Rajit Kapur, Kishor Kadam, Ravi Jhankal, Seema Biswas, Yashpal Sharma
Rating72%
The larger theme of the film is centred on India's caste system, though it is depicted as a film within a film.
Jaya Ganga (1998)
, 1h34Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Anupam Shyam Saikia, Jean-Claude Carrière
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating69%
The story is about Nishant, a young Indian writer from Paris who undertakes a journey along the river Ganges, right from its source in the Himalayas. He is constantly haunted by the fantasy of a woman called Jaya from Paris.
China Gate (1998)
Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
Genres Action, Adventure, Western
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Bollywood
Actors Samir Soni, Om Puri, Amrish Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Danny Denzongpa, Mamta Kulkarni
Rating64%
The story begins with Col. Krishnakant and his ten men who were sacked from the Indian army as they failed in the China Gate mission. After witnessing the brutal slaying of her Forest Officer father, Sunder Rajan, at the hands of dreaded dacoit Jageera, Sandhya goes to Col. and asks for his assistance in bringing an end to Jageera's rule in the Devdurg region. Krishnakant agrees to assist her and summons ten of his fellow officers and subordinates to assist him in this mission. They assemble at Devdurg with the necessary ammunitions and arms to combat Jageera, not realizing that Jageera has influence over the local police detachment, who will prevent Krishnakant and his men to possess any guns and weapons. This does not deter the men, and they continue to stay on in Devdurg and gain the confidence of the villagers. What the villagers do not know that Krishnakant and his men had all been dishonorably discharged from the army for cowardice and retreating when attacked by the enemy.
Pardes (1997)
, 3h11Directed by Subhash Ghai
Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Bollywood
Actors Shahrukh Khan, Amrish Puri, Mahima Chaudhry, Apurva Agnihotri, Rani Mukherjee, Alok Nath
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating68%
Pardes is a story that revolves around Arjun (Shah Rukh Khan) and Ganga (Mahima Chaudhary). A running theme throughout the film is also the beauty and worthiness of Indian culture and values, which are often overwhelmed by the perceived desirability of Western culture and values.
, 2h28Genres Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films based on mythology, Poésie, Films about religion, Musical films, Mythologie hindoue, Adaptation d'un poème
Actors Shatrughan Sinha, Amrish Puri, Namrata Sawhney, Noël Godin, James Earl Jones, Rahul Bose
Roles Music Director
Rating91%
After a brief introduction to some of the main characters of the story, the beginning sees a group of Rishis, led by Vishvamitra, performing a Yajna in a forest not far from Ayodhya, the Capital of the Kingdom of Kosala. This Yajna, like several before it, is interrupted and destroyed by a group of flying demons led by Ravana's relation Maricha. After seeing yet another Yajna destroyed, a despondent Vishvamitra appeals to Lord Vishnu for salvation. Vishnu appears in a spiritual blaze of light, informing him of his saviour- Prince Rama of Ayodhya, first-born of King Dasharatha. Vishvamitra travels to Ayodhya to meet the King and requests him to offer Rama's services to help destroy the demons in the forests. Although the Solar Dynasty King is reluctant at first to send the young lad, he is reassured by the resident Rishi that no harm will come to him and even encouraged to send his third son Lakshmana as an accompaniment.
Char Adhyay (1997)
, 1h50Directed by Kumar Shahani
Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Rajat Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan
Roles Music
Rating66%
Ghatak: Lethal (1996)
, 2h38Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
Genres Drama, Action
Actors Sunny Deol, Meenakshi Seshadri, Danny Denzongpa, Amrish Puri, K. K. Raina, Sanjay Batra
Roles Music
Rating74%
Kashi (Sunny Deol) is a kind-hearted wrestler and the dutiful son of Shambhu Nath (Amrish Puri) living in Banaras. Shambhu Nath who was a freedom fighter awarded with Tambra Patra, is an honourable and respectable man in town. Kashi comes to Mumbai with his father for his medical treatment of throat and stays with his brother Shiv Nath (K. K. Raina). Kashi meets Gauri (Meenakshi Seshadri) and starts liking her. He learns that the colony is being terrorized by a tyrannical gangster named Katya (Danny Denzongpa) along with his other six brothers. Before Kashi's arrival, a resident named Sachdev (Om Puri) tries to initiate revolt against Katya but gets ruthlessly killed by him, thereby making Malti (Ila Arun), wife of Sachdev, go mad. Katya and his brothers become enemy with Kashi when he beats up their goons when they were beating up Malti. Shambhu Nath is later diagnosed with throat cancer and has only a few days to live.
The Making of the Mahatma (1996)
, 2h24Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama, Biography
Actors Rajit Kapur, Pallavi Joshi, Sean Michael
Rating68%
Sardari Begum (1996)
, 2h15Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama
Actors Kiron Kher, Surekha Sikri, Amrish Puri, Rajit Kapur, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Uttara Baokar
Roles Music
Rating70%
The police are called to investigate the death of a woman during a riot in the walled city of Delhi. She was killed by a stone thrown by an agitated mob. The woman killed is known in the community as "Sardari Begum" (Kiron Kher), a popular singer and courtesan. The religious nature of the incident and the impending elections combine to attract the media's attention. When a young reporter covering the funeral, Tehzeeb Abbasi (Rajina Raj Bisaria), discovers her father among the mourners, her curiosity prompts her to investigate further. Then comes the revelation that the singer was in fact her aunt, who was disowned by her family for rebelliously learning music from a concubine.
Naseem (1995)
, 2hDirected by Saeed Akhtar Mirza
Genres Drama
Themes Films about religion
Actors Kaifi Azmi alias Tun Party, Mayuri Kango, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Kay Kay Menon, Surekha Sikri, Ravi Jhankal
Roles Music
Rating70%
Naseem means Morning breeze, and charts the story of a young school going girl Naseem (Mayuri Kango) in the months leading up to the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992.
The Village Had No Walls (1995)
, 2h4Directed by Amol Palekar
Genres Drama, Adventure
Actors Chandrakant Kulkarni, Upendra Limaye, Nagesh Bhosale
Rating79%
The story begins with the young schoolteacher walking alone towards the village called Bangarwadi, across a deserted landscape. When the teacher reaches Bangarwadi, he finds that the school is not working and people are reluctant to send their children to school. The schoolteacher, with a support of Karbhari (village head) successfully convince the local people to send their children to school. Over the next months, he successfully runs the school. Teacher tries to help the illiterate and needy people of the village with all possible means, which sometimes land him into troubles. After successful run at school, he convinces the villager to set up a gymnasium through community participation. He invites the king of the state, Pant Pratinidhi for its inauguration. A sudden death of village head leaves village and schoolteacher shocked, this is followed by a prolong drought. The schoolteacher tries his best to get help from government with frequent letters describing the graveness of situation, but gets no response. Drought forces people of Bangarwadi to abandon the village, leaving the schoolteacher alone with no students.