Sangeet Natak Akademi and admirers offer financial support
Alka Dhupkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 19, 2019)

Days after Mirror highlighted the plight of top music composer Vanraj Bhatia, who is penniless, isolated and bedridden in his Napean Sea Road apartment, citizens have begun to loosen their purse strings.

The Delhi-based Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), an autonomous body under the ministry of culture, has decided to offer a one-time financial assistance to the virtuoso composer, who had scored the music for Shyam Benegal classics like Ankur and Bhumika as well as TV series Yatra and Discovery of India. A group of friends is also raising funds through WhatsApp to provide him with an aid of Rs 25,000 every month.

On Wednesday, SNA chairperson Shekhar Sen, writer and executive member of SNA Atul Tiwari, and singer and executive member of SNA Chhaya Ganguly visited Bhatia at his rented flat in Rungta Housing Colony on Napean Sea Road.

Sen said he learned of Bhatia’s condition through Mirror’s front page report on September 15.

He said Bhatia’s association with the SNA—he was conferred with the Akademi’s Tagore Akademi Ratna award in 2012—prompted the three to make a personal visit to his house. “Atul Tiwari had worked with Vanraj ji in the past.”

He said the visit livened up the 92-year-old recluse and that they were struck by his sharp memory. “He shared stories of working on Discovery of India as well as with [late theatre doyen Ebrahim] Alkazi and [late playwright and actor] Girish Karnad.”

Sen said the SNA’s aid will be announced soon. “It should not be viewed as an aid. It is our duty to help him out for his contribution to the field of music,” he added.

He said the SNA will also soon document Bhatia’s life as part of its ‘Meet a Maestro’ series, which aims to help youngsters learn about those who shaped the music industry. “The way he combined Western and Indian music, as well as the combination of tribal and folk music in his scores will archived soon.”

Jaipur-based technocrat Pavan Jha and his friends from India and abroad are chipping in, too. They have created a WhatsApp group titled ‘Thank You Vanraj Sir’, through which they are raising funds and plan to contribute Rs 25,000 every month. “We want to pay Vanraj ji back for his contributions through the years.” Jha, too, insisted that the aid not be viewed as help. “We want the SNA to make put a system in place to support senior artists in their old age,” he said.

Jha claimed music industry veterans like Shubha Mudgal and Rekha Bhardwaj have also expressed willingness help Bhatia out.

Prakash Borgaonkar, state director of NGO HelpAge India, which works for the rights and welfare of elderly citizens, said he has reached out to Bhatia as well. “We have mobile medical vans and can offer assistance for medical checkups.”