Having donned the hats of being a director, screenwriter, producer and a music composer, Vishal Bhardwaj celebrates his birthday today.

Here are some lesser known musical facts about him:

1) Bhardwaj started playing harmonium for little known ghazal singers at the various food festivals in Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. He was later introduced to R.V. Pandit, who offered him a job in his CBS music company in Delhi.

2) Bhardwaj came to Mumbai to become a music composer, he took to directing movies only to create the opportunity to compose music.

3) Bhardwaj was recommended by a friend to the filmmaker Gulzar, with whom he successfully collaborated on TV serials such as The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland andGubbare. Bhardwaj composed the music for Maachis, a film directed by Gulzar.

4) The musical score for Maachis was received to critical and commercial acclaim and earned Bhardwaj the Filmfare R D Burman Award in 1996. In 1999, Bhardwaj received the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards for his critically acclaimed score in Godmother. In 2011, he has won the same category award for his score in Ishqiya.

5) Bhardwaj has scored music for several Hindi films such as—Satya, Chachi 420 ,Maqbool, Omkara, Kaminey, Ishqiya, 7 Khoon Maaf—and a host of other popular projects. He also scored the title track for Star Plus’ STAR Parivaar Awards, along with the channel’s new anthem, titled Tu Hi Tu.

6) Vishal has worked with leading playback singers like Lata Mangeshkar, K. J. Yesudas, Asha Bhosle, Hariharan, K. S. Chithra, Udit Narayan, Sadhna Sargam, Suresh Wadkar, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Roop Kumar Rathod, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal, Abhijeet Bhattacharya.