Bhaskar Chandavarkar (16 March 1936 – 26 July 2009) was an Indian

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

player, academic and film and theatre composer who worked with well-known directors of Indian cinema like

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen (''Beng.'' মৃণাল সেন; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Bengali, and few Hindi and Telugu language films. Regarded as one of the finest Ind ...

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

Aparna Sen Aparna Sen (, ''Ôporna Shen'') is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received several accolades as an actress and filmmaker, including nine National Film Awards, five F ...

, K. G. George and

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Career Palekar studied fine arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, h ...

in various languages including Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Oriya and was known for his blending of Indian classical and western music. He taught at FTII,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

for many years, and during his career as a music composer he worked for 40 films, and is most known for his work in films such as Amol Palekar's ''Aakreit'' and '' Thoda Sa Rumani Ho Jaayen'', Girish Karnad's '' Ondanondu Kaladalli'',

Jabbar Patel Dr. Jabbar Patel (born 23 June 1942, Pandharpur) is a former paediatrician and a Marathi-language theatre and film director of India. His production of the play Vijay Tendulkar's play Ghashiram Kotwal, in 1973 is considered a classic in Moder ...

's ''Samna'', Mrinal Sen's ''

Khandhar ''Khandhar'' (English: ''Ruins'') is a 1984 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Mrinal Sen, based on a Bengali short story, ''Telenapota Abishkar'' (Discovering Telenapota) by Premendra Mitra. The film stars Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah an ...

'',

Vijaya Mehta Vijaya Mehta (born 4 November 1934), is a noted Indian Marathi film and theatre director and also an actor in many films from the Parallel Cinema. She is a founder member of Mumbai-based theatre group, Rangayan with playwright Vijay Tendulkar ...

's '' Rao Saheb'', Chitra Palekar's ''Maati Maay'' and K. G. George's ''

Swapnadanam ''Swapnadanam'' ( ml, സ്വപ്നാടനം, en, Journey Through a Dream) is a 1976 black-and-white Malayalam-language film that marks the directorial debut of K. G. George. A marital psychodrama, it rejected all the usual song-dance nu ...

''. He has given music to films which are considered classics in their respective languages, like: ''

Vamsha Vriksha Vamsha Vriksha (The genealogy tree), is a 1971 Indian Kannada-language film directed by B. V. Karanth and Girish Karnad, based on S. L. Bhyrappa's novel of the same name. The film won the National Film Award for Best Direction.Shampa Banerjee ...

'' (1971), '' Ondanondu Kaladalli'' (1978) in Kannada, '' Maya Darpan'' (1972), ''Khandhar'' (1984) in Hindi, ''

'' (1975) in Malayalam, ''

Paroma ''Paroma'' (English title: The Ultimate Woman) is a 1985 award-winning Indian Bengali feature film directed by Aparna Sen. Plot The movie is about a 40-year-old married woman, Paroma whose identity lies in the words like "bouma" (the daughte ...

'' (1984) in Bengali, ''

Maya Miriga ''Maya Miriga'' (English ''The Mirage'') is a 1984 award-winning Odia film directed by Nirad N. Mohapatra. Story The story is of a family, where three generations live under a decaying roof. The widowed grandmother is the titular head, her so ...

'' (1984) in Oriya, ''

Shwaas ''Shwas'' (Marathi: श्वास, ''The Breath'') is a Marathi film, released in 2004. It was India's official entry to the 2004 Oscars and was ranked 6th in the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film category. Its storyline is based ...

'' (2004) in Marathi, etc. He received the President's

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

for Music direction in the Marathi short film

Chaitra Chaitra (Hindi: चैत्र) is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Ch ...

directed by

Kranti Kanade Kranti Kanade is a National Award winning Indian filmmaker. His films include '' Peepal Tree'', '' CRD (film)'', ''Gandhi of the Month'', '' Mahek'' and ''Chaitra''. He studied at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and FTII (Film and Te ...

in 2002.

Early life and education

Born and brought up in

, he completed his graduation from Wadia College, in Pune and studied contemporary music. He also studied at

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...

. In late 1950s he studied under

player Pandit

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

, and Umashankar Misra, and also learnt Indian classical vocals. He also studied contemporary Western music and jazz.

Career

He remained a part of the faculty at the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...

(FTII), as a resident composer and teacher of applied music, from 1965 to 1980. He worked with Merzbow, Sonic Youth and Throbbing Gristle and was a big fan of experimental and noise music. While still at FTII, he composed the music of the acclaimed Marathi play ''

Ghashiram Kotwal '' Kotwal'' is a Marathi play written by playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1972 as a response to the rise of a local political party, in Maharashtra. The play is a political satire, written as historical drama. It is based on the life of Nana Phadnav ...

'' written by

Vijay Tendulkar Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar (6 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marāthi. His Marathi plays established him as ...

and directed by Jabbar Patel in 1972 and received critical acclaim for its use of Marathi devotional songs to ironic situations, later he also gave music for its Marathi feature film adaptation in 1974, and went on to compose for Marathi, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam language cinema and stage with his blend Indian classical and Western music. He also received acclaim for his music for P. L. Deshpande's Marathi play ''Teen Paishacha Tamasha''. He died on 26 July 2009 in

, after a prolonged illness and was survived by his wife, Meena, director of New India School, and son Rohit. The Yard Went on Forever was his multi-volume autobiography published in 2008.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1971) - Kannada * ''Jai Jawan Jai Makan'' (1971) * '' Maya Darpan'' (1972) * '' Jadu Ka Shankh'' (1974) * ''

Samna (film) ''Samna'' (Marathi: सामना) is a 1974 Marathi cinema, Marathi-language crime drama directed by Jabbar Patel. It was entered into the 25th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Mohan Agashe as Maruti Kamble * Anant Audkar * Shivaji ...

'' (1974) * '' Bhakta Pundalik'' (1975) * ''

'' (1976) - Malayalam * ''

'' (1976) * '' Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane'' (1977) - Kannada * ''Sarvasaakshi'' (1978) * '' Chandoba Chandoba Bhaglas Ka'' (1978) * '' Ondanondu Kaladalli'' (1978) - Kannada * '' Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan'' (1978) * ''

Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai ''Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai'' () is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed and written by Saeed Akhtar Mirza. The film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil in the lead roles. It won the 1981 Filmfare Criti ...

'' (1980) * '' Garambicha Bapu'' (1980) * ''Akriet'' (1981) * '' Ek Daav Bhutacha'' (1982) * ''

'' (1984) * ''

'' (1984) * '' Rao Saheb'' (1985) * ''

Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaayen ''Thodasa Roomani Ho Jayen'' () is a 1990 Hindi movie directed by Amol Palekar. It features Anita Kanwar, Nana Patekar and Vikram Gokhale as major actors. This movie has become a part of management courses and study pertaining to human behav ...

'' (1990) * '' Cheluvi'' (1992) * ''Kairee'' (2000) * ''

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

Sarivar Sari ''Sarivar Sari'' is a Marathi movie, released on 20 October 2005. Cast The cast includes *Madhura Velankar as Mani *Manasi Salvi, as Vini *Neena Kulkarni as mother *Mohan Joshi as father Mohan Joshi, Bharat Jadhav, Shreyas Talpade, Milind ...

'' (2005) * ''

Maati Maay ''Maati Maay'' (A Grave-Keeper's Tale) is a Marathi social drama film directed and produced by Chitra Palekar based on ''Baayen'', a story by Bengali novelist Mahasweta Devi. This film was released on 17 March 2007 under the banner of Dnya Film ...

'' (2006)

Awards

* 1975:

Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director The Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have b ...

: ''

'' (Malayalam) * 1988:

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

* 2002:

National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals The Directorate of Film Festivals in India was an organisation that initiated and pr ...

: ''

'' (Marathi) Awards

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

References

Endurance test: Bhaskar Chandavarkar’s music lives on in both film and stage
Time Out, Mumbai

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandavarkar, Bhaskar 1936 births 2009 deaths Hindustani instrumentalists Film and Television Institute of India faculty Kannada film score composers Musicians from Pune Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sitar players Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni Marathi music Indian musical theatre composers Indian classical composers 20th-century Indian musicians Indian male film score composers 20th-century male musicians