Vijay Bhatt

Vijay Bhatt (born as Vijayshankar Jagneshwar Bhatt) (1907–1993) was a noted producer-director-screenwriter of Hindi cinema, who made such films as Ram Rajya (1943), Baiju Bawra (1952), Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) and Himalaya Ki God Mein (1965).

He founded Prakash Pictures, a film production company and Prakash Studios in Andheri East, Mumbai, which produced 64 feature films. Bhatt was one of the founding members of Film and Television Producers Guild of India.

Early life and education
Vijayshankar Jagneshwar Bhatt was born on 12 May 1907, into the modest household of Benkunwar Bhatt and Jagneshwar Bhatt, who was a railway guard at Palitana, Bhavnagar district, Gujarat.

While he was in his twenties, he moved to Bombay,along with his elder brother, Shankarbhai Bhatt, who took up a job, and went on to become a noted producer, younger Vijay enrolled in St. Xavier’s College, and completed Intermediate from the Science stream, and later received a diploma in ‘Electrical Lighting and Traction’ through a correspondence course from London.

Career
After completing his with an electrician’s diploma, Bhatt started his career at Bombay Electric Supply & Tramways Company Limited (BEST), where he worked till he became the Drawing Office Superintendent. Though he had already written a few scripts for Gujarati theatre, a meeting with Ardeshir Irani was turning point in his career. Irani, who later Alam Ara India’s first talkie, and also managed the Royal Film Company studio, introduced Bhatt to its owner Abu Husain. When Husain like one of his script, it paved way of his debut in Indian film industry by as a screenwriter, for director K P Bhave’s silent film, Vidhi Ka Vidhan. Irani produced two more his scripts, Pani Mein Aag and Ghulam (1929) He eventually producing his first silent film, Delhi Ka Chhela in 1929, and went on to direct many notable films, in Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi cinema.

His early film Ram Rajya (1942) was a bit hit, and also made news, when it was shown to Mahatma Gandhi in 1942. In 1947, he took the film to US, where it was first shown at Museum of Modern Art, New York on 5 May 1947, later he also met noted Hollywood director, Cecil B. DeMille

His film Baiju Bawra (1952), which was based on the historical tiff between Emperor Akbar's court musician Tansen and the talented singer, Baiju Bawra, not just ran for hundred weeks in Bombay, becoming a diamond jubilee hit, but also established its lead cast, Meena Kumari and Bharat Bhushan. Meena Kumari, who won her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for the film, was launched by Vijay Bhatt in his film Leatherface (1939), as a child artist, "Baby Meena" (born Mahjabeen Bano), a name that stayed with her for the rest of her career.

Personal life
The older brother of Vijay Bhatt was director-producer Harsukh Jagneshwar Bhatt. Other siblings included Shankarbhai Bhatt (producer), Labhshankarbhai Bhatt, Durlabhben Bhatt, and Nirmalaben Pandya.

Vijay Bhatt was married to Rama Bhatt, with whom he had two sons, Arun Bhatt and Pravin Bhatt, and two daughters, and later six granddaughters and four grandsons. His son, Pravin Bhatt, is a cinematographer in Hindi cinema, and his grandson, Vikram Bhatt, is a noted film director. Arun Bhatt was also a film director in Hindi cinema with films such as Vardaan starring Mehmood. He was a renowned producer-director of Gujarati Cinema with a record of 9 films being jubilees out of the 14 he had made. His son Chirantan Bhatt is a music director in Bollywood and has given hits such as Haunted 3D and 1920 Evil Returns.

Selected filmography

 * Dreamland (1936)
 * Narsi Bhagat (1940)
 * Bharat Milap (1942)
 * Ram Rajya (1943)
 * Baiju Bawra (1952)
 * Patrani (1956)
 * Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959)
 * Hariyali Aur Raasta (1962)
 * Himalaya Ki God Mein (1965)

Awards

 * 1966: Filmfare Best Movie Award: Himalaya Ki God Mein (1965)