Bharat Bala | |
---|---|
Born | Ganapathy Bharat Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, producer |
Years active | 1997–present |
Website | bbp |
Bharat Bala is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer who is based in Chennai and Mumbai. [1]
Bharat Bala first gained national attention for the patriotic music videos Vande Mataram (1997) and Jana Gana Mana (2000), created with long-time collaborator A. R. Rahman.
He was set to direct and produce an Indo-Japanese film, co-produced by Disney, called The 19th Step, written by and starring Kamal Haasan, but the project was later shelved. [2] He went on to direct Hari Om (2004) [3] and Maryan (2013). [4]
In 2010, he directed the music video of the official song of the Commonwealth Games, Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto and also the opening ceremony of the games. [5]
In 2019 he launched Virtual Bharat, an ongoing 1,000-film digital museum documenting India’s art, culture and landscapes. [6] During the COVID-19 lockdown he directed the four-minute short We Will Rise (2020), shot remotely across 14 Indian states. [7]
At the 55th International Film Festival of India in November 2024 he spoke on the panel “Culture as Context for Cinematic Storytelling,” highlighting Virtual Bharat’s crowd-funded model. [8]
Bala’s next feature, Mahasangam—set against the 2025 Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj and scored by A. R. Rahman—entered post-production in early 2025. [9]
Year | Title | Language | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Hari Om | Hindi | Debut feature |
2013 | Maryan | Tamil | Survival drama starring Dhanush [11] |
2025 | Mahasangam | Hindi | Post-production [9] |