Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of eight 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 garnered 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.
Mr. Bhardwaj is the board member of Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image.
