Vishal Bhardwaj Biography
Vishal Bhardwaj was born on 4 August 1965, in Chandpur city in District Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. His mother Satya Bhardwaj, was a homemaker, and father Ram Bhardwaj, was a sugarcane inspector.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s father also wrote poetry and lyrics for Hindi films. He and his family lived in Najibabad until he completed 5th grade in school. They later moved to Meerut, where he used to play cricket for the states under-19 team. He could not pursue cricket because the day before a tournament, his thumb broke during a practise session.
Vishal Bhardwaj composed a song at the age of seventeen. After hearing it, his father discussed it with music director Usha Khanna. She used it for the film Yaar Kasam (1985). Bhardwaj later moved to Delhi to pursue his graduation at the Hindu College, University of Delhi.
Vishal Bhardwaj met his wife and playback singer Rekha Bhardwaj during the college annual function she was a year senior to him. He is also an avid tennis player.
Career
Vishal Bhardwaj started playing harmonium for friends who were Ghazal singers. After a few years, he took up a job with a music company called CBS in Delhi. He later went to Mumbai to become a music composer, and he only took to directing films to create the opportunity to compose music.
His interest in film direction kindled after watching Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994), and Krzysztof Kieślowski’s television series Dekalog, during a film festival in Thiruvananthapuram.
Vishal Bhardwaj did not leave any opportunity to compose music in the year 1995, Vishal Bhardwaj made his debut as a music composer for the children’s film Abhay (The Fearless). He then went on to compose music for Fauji (1995), and Sanshodhan (1996).
In 1996, he served as the music director for Gulzar’s Maachis (1996), for which he received the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent.
The film depicted the transformation of boys into terrorists during the Punjab insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s. The soundtrack composed by Bhardwaj became an anthem for the politically restive college youth at that time.
He later collaborated with him on TV serials such as Alice in Wonderland and Gubbare. His further projects included Betaabi (1997), Tunnu Ki Tina (1997), Satya (1998) and Hu Tu Tu (1999). At the 46th National Film Awards, Bhardwaj received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for his critically acclaimed score in Godmother (1999).
In 2010, he composed the music for his production venture Ishqiya, which garnered him his second National Film Award for Best Music Direction. He also composed music for Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli, the Hindi dubbed version of the anime adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s original collection of stories, The Jungle Book.
Apart from feature films, Bhardwaj has provided music for music albums such as Sunset Point (2000), Ishqa Ishqa (2002) and Barse Barse (2011). He frequently collaborates with Gulzar.
Vishal Bhardwaj as a Playback Singer
After getting a successful response in the music direction Vishal Bhardwaj tried to sing in few movies as well. He had lent his voice for the movies like –
- Omkara
- No Smoking
- You Me aur Hum
- Kaminey
- Striker
- 7 Khoon Maaf
- Chappa Chappa
- Naina Thag Lenge
- Darling
- O Sathi Re
- Pani Pani Re
- Oye Boy Charlie
- Badi Dheere Jali
Collaborations
- Chhupke se – Asha Bhonsle, Lucky Ali, Daler Mehendi, Alka Yagnik, KK, Zubeen Garg.
- Maqbool – Sadhna Sargam, Daler Mehendi, Rekha Bhardwaj, Sabir Khan.
- Ramji Londonwale – Alisha Chinai, Sonu Nigam, Raghubir Yadav, Rakesh Pandit.
- The Blue Umbrella – Upagna Pandya, Sukhwinder Singh, Sahithi, Aparna Bhagwat.
- Omkara – Vishal Bhardwaj, Sukhwinder Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Suresh Wadkar
- No Smoking – Adnan Sami, Rekha Bhardwaj, Deva Sengupta, Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan.
- U Me Aur Hum – Shreya Ghoshal, Adnan Sami, Sunidhi Chauhan, Vishal Bhardwaj
- Kaminey – Sukkhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Suresh Vadhkar, Kailas Kher
Awards
- Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent – Maachis.
- National Film Award for Best Music Direction – Godmother.
- National Film Award for Best Children’s Film – The Blue Umbrella
- National Film Award – Special Jury Award – Omkara.
- National Film Award for Best Music Direction – Ishqiya.
- National Film Awards third Best Music Direction and Best Screenplay – Haider
- Yash Bharti Award by the Government of Uttar Pradesh for his contribution in the field of cinema.
- National Film Award for Best Screenplay for writing Talvar.
- Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director for his second Malayalam film Carbon.
