Vishal Bharadwaj /

Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1960) is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, music composer and playback singer. Bhardwaj was born in Bijnor but raised in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh to Ram Bhardwaj, a popular poet and lyricist. His father was a government employee and was a sugarcane inspector. As a young man, Bhardwaj moved to Delhi. He pursued his graduation in the Hindu College of Delhi University where he nurtured his talents and also met his wife, Rekha Bhardwaj. Bhardwaj started playing harmonium for little known ghazal singers at the various food festivals in Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. He was later introduced to R.V. Pandit, who offered him a job in his CBS music company in Delhi. Bhardwaj was recommended by a friend to the filmmaker Gulzar, with whom he successfully collaborated on TV serials such as Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland and Gubbare. Bhardwaj composed the music for Maachis, a film directed by Gulzar. The musical score for Maachis was received to critical and commercial acclaim and earned Bhardwaj the Filmfare R D Burman Award in 1996. In 1999, Bhardwaj received the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards.