Vanraj Bhatia


Vanraj Bhatia was an Indian composer best known for his work in Indian New Wave cinema. He was also one of the leading composers of Western classical music in India.
Bhatia was a recipient of the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the television film Tamas, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Creative and Experimental Music and India's fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri. He died in Mumbai in May 2021.

Biography

Early life and education

Born into a family of Kutchi businessmen, Bhatia attended the New Era School in Bombay and learnt Hindustani classical music as a student at Deodhar School of Music. On hearing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 as a teenager, he became interested in Western classical music and studied the piano with Dr. Manek Bhagat for four years.
After earning his M.A. from Elphinstone College, University of Bombay in 1949, Bhatia studied composition with Howard Ferguson, Alan Bush and William Alwyn at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he was a recipient of the Sir Michael Costa Scholarship. After graduating with a gold medal in 1954, Bhatia won a Rockefeller Scholarship as well as a French Government Scholarship that allowed him to study with Nadia Boulanger at the Conservatoire de Paris for five years.

Career

On returning to India in 1959, Bhatia became the first person to score music for an advertisement film in India, and went on to compose over 7,000 jingles, such as Liril, Garden Vareli and Dulux. During this time, he was also a Reader in Western Musicology at the University of Delhi from 1960 to 1965.
Bhatia's first feature film score was for Shyam Benegal's directorial debut Ankur, and he went on to score almost all of Benegal's work, including the song "Mero Gaam Katha Parey" from the film Manthan. Bhatia predominantly worked with filmmakers in the Indian New Wave movement, such as Govind Nihalani, Kundan Shah, Aparna Sen, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Kumar Shahani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Vijaya Mehta and Prakash Jha.
Bhatia has scored television shows such as the medical drama Lifeline, Khandaan, Yatra, Wagle Ki Duniya, Banegi Apni Baat and the 53-episode Bharat Ek Khoj based on Jawaharlal Nehru's The Discovery of India, as well as numerous documentaries. He has also released albums of spiritual music on the Music Today label, and composed music for trade fairs such as Expo '70, Osaka and Asia 1972, New Delhi.
Bhatia is the best-known composer of Western classical music in India. His most frequently performed works are the Fantasia and Fugue in C for piano, the Sinfonia Concertante for strings, and the song cycle Six Seasons. His Reverie was performed by Yo-Yo Ma at a concert in Mumbai in January 2019, and the first two acts of his opera Agni Varsha'', based on Girish Karnad's play of the same name, premiered in New York City in 2012 in a production by soprano Judith Kellock.

Death

Bhatia died on May 7, 2021, at his home in Mumbai, due to old age.

List of compositions

Source:

Music for solo piano

Toccata No. 1 in Raag Bahar
  • Sonata Introduction and Retrograde Fantasia and Fugue in C Rhapsody on "Agni Varsha"
  • ''Gujarati Nursery''

Chamber music

Trio for clarinet, cello and piano Quintet for flute, harp, viola and two cellos Divertimento for bassoon and piano Sonata for violin and piano Indian Nursery: Pieces for piano four hands Sonatina for violin and piano Divertimento Pastoral for flute, oboe, two clarinets and bassoon Sangeet Raat: Night Music for solo flute Cyclic Variations for cello and harpsichord Kaleidoscope for prepared piano and string quartet Kaleidoscope for violin, viola, cello and piano Reverie for cello and piano Spring: An Awakening for string quartet

Vocal music

Dhoon for voice and piano Kinguri-Vali for soprano, violin and piano Rudranaam for triple chorus Jaisalmer for unaccompanied chorus Vasansi Jeernani for triple chorus Six Seasons for unaccompanied chorus Tantra: Meditations for voice and piano Transcendence for double chorus Rig Veda Hymns for double chorus Six Seasons for soprano and piano

Music for large ensemble

Gita Govinda for orchestra Concerto in One Movement for piano and strings Sinfonia Concertante for strings

Opera

  • ''Agni Varsha''

Feature film scores

The Householder – background score onlyAnkur Nishant Ek Dal Mithi Manthan Bhumika Anugraham/Kondura Junoon 36 Chowringhee Lane Kalyug Sazaye Maut Je Peed Parai Jaane Re Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro Mandi Hip Hip Hurray Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho! Tarang Aghaat – song onlyKhamosh Massey Sahib – uncreditedSurkhiyaan Trikaal Mazhab Mohre Pestonjee Susman Percy Ajooba – background score onlyAntarnaad Jazeere Kasba Pita Bekhudi – background score onlyBeta – background score onlyChamatkar – background score onlyRamayana: The Legend of Prince Rama Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda Damini – background score onlySardar Droh Kaal Mammo Bangarwadi Naseem Bandish – background score onlyGhatak – background score onlyKatha Doan Ganpatraonchi – background score onlySardari Begum The Making of the Mahatma Jaya Ganga Char Adhyay Himalay Putra – background score onlyPardes – background score onlyChina Gate – background score onlySamar Dhaad Hari-Bhari Chameli – background score onlyEscape from Taliban – background score onlyRules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula – background score onlyKahan Se Aaye Badarwa: Forgotten Showers, re-released as Bhagya Na Jaane Koi – background score onlyHalla Bol – only one song

Television scores

Khandaan Katha Sagar – selected episodesYatra Tamas Bharat Ek Khoj Naqab Wagle Ki Duniya Lifeline Baingan Raja Bible Ki Kahaniyan – selected episodes Banegi Apni Baat
  • ''Sankranti''

Documentary scores (selected)

A Certain Childhood To Light a Candle Kailash at Ellora A City in History From Lagoon to Sea The House That Ananda Built An Area of Darkness Indian Youth: An Exploration Water Creative Artists: Amrita Sher-Gil 1002 A.D. Khajuraho Asia '72 Sarojini Naidu The Women of India A Small Family Nirnaya Touch Bombay: A City at Stake Shaping a Future Tata Steel: Seventy-Five Years of the Indian Steel Industry Nehru – certain sections scored by Alexei KozlovMolly's Wish Chocolate Story Nature Symphony The Love We Give for Nothing Prabhupada: A Lifetime in Preparation
  • ''Purva Uttara: Past Forward''

Theatre music

Teen Takke Ka Swang, directed by Ebrahim Alkazi and Fritz BennewitzA Man's a Man, directed by Amal AllanaThe Caucasian Chalk Circle, directed by Ebrahim Alkazi and Fritz BennewitzNisheeth, directed by Shanta GandhiTughlaq, directed by Ebrahim AlkaziAndha Yug, directed by Ebrahim AlkaziSon-et-Lumiere: The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, directed by Ebrahim AlkaziAurat Bhali Ramkali, directed by Amal AllanaOthello, directed by Alyque PadamseeCyrano de Bergerac, directed by Jatinder VermaMy Bollywood Summer, directed by Sabera Shaik

Albums

  • Preeti Sagar – "Spring Is Coming"/”All Night and Day" Hi! Ho! Music for Meditation Cinema Cinema – only one songThe Elements: Earth The Bhagavad Gita, Vols. 1 & 2 Anant: The Endless, re-released as The Spirit of the Upanishads
  • Ritika Sahni – Ritika India Unlimited: The United World of Artistes, re-released as Vaishnava Jana To – only one song
  • ''Tiranga Tera Aanchal''

Awards