composer

ONE OF filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s finest works from the 80s, Bharat Ek Khoj, the majestic adaptation of Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India, opened every Sunday on Doordarshan with Rig Veda chants set to electronic music — with synths and drums creating a voltaic web. It was an odd combination that somehow worked. At the helm of affairs was composer Vanraj Bhatia. “His ideas were extremely original and he wouldn’t imitate anyone,” says Benegal, most of whose projects had Bhatia at the helm. Be it Ankur, Manthan, Bhoomika, Mandi, Sardari Begum, Bharat Ek Khoj or his advertisements — Benegal’s every project came…