Vanraj Bhatia is an Indian music composer, who is best known for providing music for most of Shyam Benegal's films, and for his private albums with Music Today. Although he gave good music to many art movies, he never came to main-stream commercial movies, therefore, his success was limited. He was born 1927 in Bombay, Maharashtra. During the 1970s and 1980s he worked with many art film makers in India. In the 1990s he composed the music of Vijay Singh's international film Jaya Ganga (1996). He won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for Tamas in 1988, and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989. Padma shri for 2012 has been conferred upon him in field of Art – Music.

Bhatia studied music at Elphinstone College, where he earned a master's in English with honors, and the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he received a gold medal. He continued to study at the Paris Conservatoire, where he worked with influential composer/teacher Nadia Boulanger from 1954 until 1959. The recipient of a Bengal Film Journalists' award for his work on films Bhumika, in 1976, and Manthan the following year, Bhatia received the President's Gold Medal for his work on Tomas in 1988 and the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy award in 1989.