Vanraj Bhatia (1927-2021): He hated being termed parallel cinema composer, says Shyam Benegal

Late Vanraj Bhatia

I could not think of anyone other than Vanraj Bhatia as a composer on my films. All my projects, except those made in the last few years, had him on board. Having trained in Indian and Western classical music, his knowledge in both genres was deep-rooted. Even though we were long-time collaborators, we would squabble often. My Tardeo office would be rocked by our creative differences and arguments. He was critical of the kind of films I made, what was termed the parallel cinema or the New India Cinema. He used to complain that I [didn't] use his music [to maximum effect]. My films did not have the hero running around trees and singing - something that he would have probably loved. [Despite our] different tastes in cinema, he would create the best score for me.

He was inclined towards music from his student days, and in the '50s, spent several years in Paris, studying with the legendary composer-conductor, Nadia Boulanger. After returning to India, theatre doyen Ebrahim Alkazi asked him to teach music at the National School of Drama in New Delhi. It was a short stint in the early '60s because he soon realised that he wanted to compose music.

Late Vanraj Bhatia

He shifted back to Mumbai, and began scoring music for ads and jingles. At the time, I was working with Lintas. We worked on several projects together, and in due course, struck up a friendship.

When I moved to feature film direction] with Ankur [1975], he was the obvious choice. He was more inclined towards Western classical music, whereas my films - be it Nishant [1975], Manthan [1976] or Bhumika [1977] - were earthy and had inherent Indianness to them. But his knowledge of music was so profound that he could showcase his brilliance, regardless of the film's subject.

Manthan (1976)

He was at ease composing the folk song, Mero gaam katha parey, which became Manthan's iconic track. It was later used by Amul as the theme song for their campaign to showcase the model of cooperative farming. Baaju re mondar [Bhumika] showcased his classical excellence.

Stills from Bhumika (1977)

Even though he bagged the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the National Award, he never got his due. He did not achieve popular success, like say Shankar-Jaikishan did; he craved it. He hated that he was termed a composer for parallel cinema. He would have liked to do more commercial films, but his sensibilities did not match. He was an evolved and sophisticated musician; there was no crudeness to his music.

As told to Shaheen Parkar