Vishal Bhardwaj

Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian filmmaker, music composer, and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of nine National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award.

Bhardwaj made his debut as a music composer with the children's film Abhay (1995), and received wider recognition with his compositions in Gulzar's Maachis (1996). He received the Filmfare R. D. Burman Award for New Music Talent for the latter. He went on to compose music for the films Satya (1998) and Godmother (1999). For the latter, he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction.

Bhardwaj made his directorial debut with the children's film Makdee (2002), for which he also composed the music. He garnered widespread critical acclaim and numerous accolades for writing and directing the Indian adaptations of three tragedies by William Shakespeare: Maqbool (2003) from Macbeth, Omkara (2006) from Othello, and Haider (2014) from Hamlet. He has also directed the action film Kaminey, the black comedy 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), and the satire Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013).

In addition, Bhardwaj produces films under his banner VB Pictures. He has co-written and produced the films Ishqiya (2010), its sequel Dedh Ishqiya (2014), and the drama thriller Talvar (2015), among others. He has composed the musical score for each of his directorial and production ventures, and frequently collaborates with the lyricist Gulzar. He is married to playback singer Rekha Bhardwaj. Bhardwaj is the board member of Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image.

Bhardwaj was born on 4 August 1965, in Chandpur city in District Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. His mother Satya Bhardwaj was a homemaker, and his father Ram Bhardwaj was a sugarcane inspector. His father also wrote poetry and lyrics for Hindi films. He and his family lived in Najibabad until he completed class five in school. They later moved to Meerut, where he played cricket for the state's under-19 team. His thumb broke during a practice session one day before an inter-university tournament, leaving him unable to play for the year. The same year, his father died, leaving him unable to continue his cricket career.

He had an elder brother who struggled for years in Mumbai to become a film producer, and later died of a heart attack. He composed a song at the age of seventeen. After hearing the song, his father discussed it with music director Usha Khanna. She used it in the film Yaar Kasam (1985). Bhardwaj later moved to Delhi to pursue his graduation at the Hindu College, University of Delhi. He met his wife, playback singer Rekha Bhardwaj, during a college annual function; she was a year senior to him. He is also an avid tennis player.

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 was kindled after watching Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) and Krzysztof Kieślowski's television series Dekalog during a film festival in Thiruvananthapuram.

In 1995, Bhardwaj made his debut as a music composer for the children's film Abhay. He went on to compose music for Fauji (1995) and Sanshodhan (1996). In 1996, he served as the music director for Gulzar's Maachis, for which he received the Filmfare R. D. Burman Award for New Music Talent and his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. 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 politically restive college youth at that time. He later collaborated with Gulzar 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).