Vanraj Bhatia

Sound

May 31, 1927 (93 years)

† May 7, 2021

Bombay, British India, India

Biography

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 (1988), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Creative and Experimental Music (1989) and India's fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri (2012). He died in Mumbai on 7 May 2021.

Filmography

8.2

Ramayana : The Legend of Prince Rama

In Ayodhya, the royal palace of Kosala Kingdom in Ancient India, four princes were born to three queens, each of whom grew to great stature. Banished for 14 years due to court intrigue, Prince Rama retreated to the forest with his beautiful wife Sita. When Rama vanquishes the demons of the forest, he invites the wrath of the demon king Ravana, who kidnaps Sita. Based on the Indian epic the Ramayana.

9.5

Tamas

Based on the novel by Bhisham Sahni, Tamas is an epic drama set against the backdrop of riot-stricken North India on the eve of Partition in 1947. Nathu, an outcast, is hired to kill a pig, whose carcass he’s later appalled to find in front of the mosque. A riot follows and, ridden with guilt, Nathu takes his ailing mother and pregnant wife and leaves town.

7.6

Ghatak

Katya, a ruthless mobster, rules over the town with an iron fist. When newcomer Kashi dares to challenge his reign of terror, he faces brutal consequences.

6.7

Manthan

A veterinarian, Dr. Rao, makes a visit to a village, where he intends to commence a co-operative society dairy for the betterment of the rural people. The film is set against the backdrop of the White Revolution of India (Operation Flood) which started in 1970. It was entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers who donated Rs. 2 each.

9.5

Wagle Ki Duniya

Wagle Ki Duniya (literally: 'Wagle's World') was a popular sitcom on Indian television that originally aired between 1988 and 1990. It was directed by Kundan Shah and was based on characters created by noted cartoonist R. K. Laxman, especially "the common man" about the issues of common middle-class Indian man. It starred Anjan Srivastav as a bumbling salesclerk in a multinational company and Bharati Achrekar as his wife. The series was a hit and made Anjan Srivastav a household name.

6.7

China Gate

After witnessing the brutal slaying of her Forest Officer father, Sunder Rajan, at the hands of dreaded dacoit Jageera, Sandhya goes to Colonel Krishnakant Puri and asks for his assistance in bringing an end to Jageera's rule in the Devdurg region. Krishnakant agrees to assist her, and summons about a dozen of his fellow officers and subordinates to assist him. They all assemble at Devdurg with all the necessary ammunitions and arms to combat Jageera, not realizing that Jageera has influence over the local police detachment, who will prevent Puri and his men to possess any guns and weapons. This does not deter Puri and his 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. Will Puri and his men abandon Devdurg and let history repeat itself?

6.7

Pardes

Kishorilal wants an Indian bride for his westernised son. He gets him engaged to Ganga, his friend's daughter, and brings her to USA. But she shares a deeper bond with Arjun, Kishorilal's foster son.

6.7

Kalyug

A tale of intrigue and rivalry between two wealthy brothers as they conspire to create havoc in the other's life.

4.9

Halla Bol

Ashfaque (Ajay Devgan) 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 Kapur) 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 realize his dreams.

8.8

Trikal

Set in 1961 Goa, this is a story of a rich and influential Goan family and what happens to them over a period of time. The movie is narrated in past-tense by one of the friends of the family.

7.1

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

Two zanies open a photography studio. They score a partnership with a gossip magazine that suddenly thrusts them into a world of corruption, murder, and hijinks.

6.2

Ankur: The Seedling

In a small Indian village, a destitute woman's barren, alcoholic husband absconds after stealing toddy. Alone to fend for herself, she ends up relying on the affections of her landlord's to-be-married son who recently returned to look after the estate.

7.4

Drohkaal

Drohkaal (Times of Betrayal) deals with India's fight against terrorism. The film examines the mental and psychological trauma that honest police officers go through in their fight against a group of ruthless terrorists.

6.6

Mandi

The denizens of a brothel deal with internal drama, as well as pressure from greedy land developers and an anti-sex work politician to leave town.

5.6

Ajooba

The evil Vizier of Baharistan kills the royal family and takes power for himself. The real prince, who has survived his machinations, returns to his homeland to avenge his parents as a masked vigilante.

7.4

Khamosh

A young actress is found to have committed suicide at the filming location. Things take a different turn when further investigation reveals it to be a cold-blooded murder and the killer is someone within the film crew.

6.6

Bhumika

In a world that both glamorizes and patronizes her, a successful film star begins to unravel under the weight of the roles imposed upon her, drifting between studios and her personal life as she spirals into an identity crisis.

7.0

Naseem

Mumbai, 1992. Naseem, a 15 year-old schoolgirl, lives with her grandfather and grows up with stories of pre-independence communal harmony. Later, she helplessly watches the communal situation regression with the demolition of Babri Masjid.

7.1

Nishant

A man whose wife is abducted seeks to have the culprits prosecuted for their crime, but no one will help him. Meanwhile, the wife—abused and berated by her abductors—cannot bring herself to face her husband.

6.2

Death of a Doctor

After years of painstaking research at the cost of his domestic affairs, Dr. Dipankar Roy is working on a vaccine for leprosy. As the word slowly gets out in medicine, he becomes vulnerable to the professional jealousy, incompetence, and abuse of power from the medical department.