Vijaya Bhaskar (; 1924 – 3 March 2002) was an Indian music director and composer who composed music for several mainstream and experimental feature films in the Kannada film industry. Scoring music for over 720 films, Bhaskar worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Tulu and

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

language films as well. He had a noted association with directors including KSL Swamy (Ravi),

Puttanna Kanagal Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma (1 December 1933 – 5 June 1985), known popularly as S. R. Puttanna Kanagal, was an Indian filmmaker known for his work in Kannada cinema. He is often considered one of Indian cinema's most influent ...

Adoor Gopalakrishnan Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film '' Swayamvaram'' (1972), G ...

and a long association with singers including P. Susheela and

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born Kalaivani; 30 November 1945 – 4 February 2023) was an Indian playback singer in Indian cinema. She is fondly referred to as the "'' Meera of modern India''" Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. ...

. Influenced by R C Boral and Mukul Mehta, Bhaskar developed his own style of music and introduced the concept of

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

in Kannada film industry. He is credited for inspiring producers to select popular works of Kannada poets through his music. He was awarded with the Dr. Rajkumar Award and the prestigious Sur Singar Award from Mumbai music lovers (for his classical score in Malaya Marutha Kannada movie, directed by Ravi). He was also a recipient of Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director six times. Some of Bhaskar's most popular soundtracks include ''Rani Honnamma'', '' Santha Thukaram'', '' Gejje Pooje'', ''Mana Mechida Madadi'', '' Belli Moda'', ''Naandi'', '' Sharapanjara'', ''

Naagarahaavu ''Naagarahaavu'' ( ) is a 1972 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Puttanna Kanagal, based on T. R. Subba Rao's three novels ''Nagarahavu'', ''Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu'' and ''Sarpa Mathsara'', and starring Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi, K. S. A ...

'', '' Shubhamangala'', ''Neela'' and ''

Malaya Marutha ''Malaya Marutha'' ( ) is a 1986 Kannada-language musical film starring Vishnuvardhan, Saritha and Madhavi. The film was directed and written by K. S. L. Swamy (Lalitha Ravi) and produced by C. V. L Shastry under "Shastry Movies" production h ...

''. Vijaya Bhaskar never got a chance to get Rajkumar to sing in his music direction (except for humming a few lines of ''Doniyolage Neenu'' in '' Uyyale'') though '' Santha Thukaram'' in their combination won a National award. Rajkumar did sing at Vijaya Bhaskar's daughter's function.

Biography

Career

Vijaya Bhaskar was born in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. He started his training in Music early in his life. His guru in Hindustani Classical music was Govinda Bhave who taught him the basics. Vijaya Bhaskar also learnt the intricacies of Carnatic Classical music and the piano. Vijaya Bhaskar was busy in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, assisting music directors like

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of ...

and Madan Mohan. In Bombay Bhaskar was sitting in a restaurant in Matunga and chatting with a friend and then accidentally met B R Krishnamurthy (BRK). Bhaskar was speaking in Kannada and overheard BRK. BRK used to work as an assistant to R Nagendra Rao and had worked on several pictures with him. Bhaskar told him he was a musician. He asked him whether he would make music for a Kannada picture they were making. Bhaskar finally came down from Bombay in 1953 to do the score for film '' Sri Rama Puja''. He took charge and single-handedly changed the face of Kannada film music. The Kannada film industry got its first original music composer.

who was assisting BR Pantulu, with Bellimoda became independent Director. VB was the music director for '' Belli Moda''. Film became an instant success and cemented their association. After ''Belli Moda'', there was '' Gejje Pooje'', and later ''

''. He worked with Kanagal continuously till the '80s and then there was a break when M Ranga Rao took over for films like '' Ranganayaki''. Bhaskar came back for '' Maanasa Sarovara''. He has scored music for nearly 670 movies.

Style

Influenced by R.C. Boral and Mukul Mehta, Bhaskar developed his own style of music. He also proved that Kannada films too can have theme music. Bhaskar did not limit his musical talent for commercial movies alone. According to Vijaya Bhaskar folk music was the forerunner of all existing forms of music in the world. His specialty lay in the fact that he was equally comfortable using a minimum number of instruments as well as a whole orchestra. Vijaya Bhaskar's compositions are melodious and lilting. He was comfortable composing light songs as well as ghazals. He also has quite a few devotional and popular light songs to his credit. His range was extensive and included all genres of music. He directed music for experimental movies like ''Grahana'', ''Yellindalo Bandavaru'' and ''Naandi''. Bhaskar is credited for inspiring producers to select popular works of Kannada poets through his music. Some of the popular numbers include "Moodala Maneya" in '' Belli Moda'' (poem by D. R. Bendre) and "Uttara Dhruvadim" in '' Sharapanjara'' (also by D. R. Bendre).

Other languages

Even though Vijaya Bhaskar's first composition was for a Kannada film this prolific composer has composed the music for films in Tamil Telugu Malayalam Konkani Oriya and Tulu. Apart from music composition he has also given background score for several movies. Popular Malayalam director

always preferred Bhaskar for his movies. Gopalakrishnan was very much impressed when Bhaskar gave music for his movie '' Mathilukal'' which had no songs at all. All in all Bhaskar gave music for three of Gopalakrishnan's films in Malayalam – '' Kathapurushan'', '' Vidheyan'' and ''Mathilukal''. In Hindi Bhaskar did G. V. Iyer's ''Vivekananda''. His music to

Tulu language The Tulu language (, Tigalari script: , Kannada script: , Malayalam script: ; ) is a Dravidian language whose speakers are concentrated in Dakshina Kannada and in the southern part of Udupi of Karnataka in south-western India and al ...

movie Koti Chennayya (1973) is very popular in

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

. Bhaskar also went to London and did an English film. The film was called Robert Clive, and it was released in India also. It was shot mostly in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and Bhaskar did a major part of the score.

Death

Vijaya Bhaskar died on the morning of 3 March 2002 following a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

at his residence in J. P. Nagar locality of

. He was 77, and left behind his wife, a son, two daughters and 5 grandchildren. His body was cremated in Wilson gardens crematorium on 5 March.

Awards

; Dr. Rajkumar Award (2001) ;Sursingar Prashasthi ; Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director * 1967–68: '' Belli Moda'' * 1971–72: '' Yaava Janmada Maitri'' * 1972–73: ''Sankalpa'' * 1983–84: '' Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage'' * 1989–90: ''Muraligana Amruthapana'' * 1991–92: ''Pathitha Pavani''

Discography

Kannada

Tulu

*'' Koti Chennaya'' (1973)

Tamil

*'' Anbe Deivam'' (1957) *'' Engamma Sapatham'' (1974) *''Unga Veetu Kalyanam'' (1975) *'' Yarukku Maappillai Yaro'' (1975) *''Thottadhellam Ponnaagum'' (1975) *'' Mogam Muppadhu Varusham'' (1976) *'' Mayangukiral Oru Maadhu'' (1975) *'' Aadu Puli Aattam'' (1977) *''Avar Enakke Sontham'' (1977) *'' Thappu Thalangal'' (1978) *'' Soundaryame Varuga Varuga'' (1980) *'' Oru Kai Paappom'' (1983)

Telugu

*'' Krishnaveni (1974)'' *''Ammaila Sapadham (1975)'' * Manavoori Pandavulu (1978)

Malayalam

* * Pathirappattu (1967)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhaskar, Vijaya 1924 births 2002 deaths Kannada film score composers Telugu film score composers Musicians from Bengaluru Tamil film score composers Malayalam film score composers 20th-century Indian musicians University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering alumni