Randor Guy

Madabhushi Rangadorai[1][2] (born 8 November 1937[3][4]), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film[5] and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper The Hindu.[6][1] He is also the official editor of the weekly column "Blast from the Past" that appears in The Hindu.

Early life

Randor Guy's original name was Rangadorai, but his pen name later became official.[7] He graduated in BSc and B. L. from Madras University[8] and commenced his career as a lawyer.[8][9] After practising as a lawyer for a short time, he quit his job and joined a firm called Paterson and Co. where he worked for five years. In 1976, he resigned to devote all his time to writing.

Work as a film historian

Guy has been writing books on history and films since 1967. He became popular when his article on Frank Capra was purchased by the United States Information Agency for use as a reference work.[8] As of 2008, he remains the only non-American whose work has been acquired as reference material by the Government of the United States of America.[8]

Guy is a regular columnist for such newspapers as the Mylapore Times, The Hindu and The Indian Express. He also writes for the film magazine, Screen. He writes on a variety of topics though he is mainly popular as a film historian and critic.

Films

Guy has written the screenplays for a few short documentaries and feature films. He has also produced a few advertisement films.[9] In 1999, he scripted a 100-minute feature film in English titled Tales of The Kama Sutra: The Perfumed Garden for a Hollywood film company, directed by Jag Mundhra.[8] It was subsequently dubbed into Hindi, Tamil and Telugu as Brahmachari.[2][8] He later worked with the film's cinematographer, Ashok Kumar, on his trilingual production, Kaama (1999). He has written a Sinhalese film called Paradise Peak based on a best-selling crime novel written by him.[8] His recent works include Kamasutra Nights: Maya starring actress Namitha.[10] Maya is Namitha's first film in English.[10]

Awards and felicitations

On 12 November 2007, during a function commemorating the fifth anniversary of Samudra, a magazine dedicated to art and culture, Guy was awarded the Gnana Samudra award in recognition of his contributions to the arts.[11]

Books
  • While the Breakers Roared. 1967. (Fiction)
  • Indian Ribaldry. C. E. Tuttle Co. 1970. ISBN 0-8048-0906-2.
  • Chaya. 1980. (Fiction – Telugu)
  • Kasi. 1981. (Fiction – Telugu)
  • Madhuri Oru Madhiri. 1982. (True Crime-Tamil)
  • B.N. Reddi: a monograph. National Film Archive of India. 1985. ISBN 81-201-0003-4.
  • A History of Tamil Cinema. 1991. (Film History – Govt. of Tamil Nadu)
  • Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema. Amra Publishers. 1997.
  • Murder for Pleasure. 1972. (Fiction)[12]
  • Chitale (Biography)
  • Monsoon. 1997.(Novelization of a Hollywood film shot in India)

Notes
  1. "Romancing the reel". The Hindu. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  2. Varma, Shreekumar (13 November 2007). "Remembrance of things past". The Old Indian Express:Sunday Headlines. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  3. Bhushan, Ravi (2007). Reference India. Rifacimento International. p. 106.
  4. Dutt, K. C.; S. Balu Rao; Sahitya Akademi (2001). Who's who of German Writers, 1999: A-M Vol 1. Sahitya Akademi. p. 439. ISBN 81-260-0873-3.
  5. Vasudev, A. (1988). Cinemaya: the Asian film magazine. p. 61.
  6. "Silk Route". Mint. 30 September 2011.
  7. "Randor Guy remembers it all « Madras Musings - We Care for Madras that is Chennai". www.madrasmusings.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  8. "The GUY called RANDOR". Sify. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  9. Fernandez, p 164
  10. "Sensuous Namitha sizzles in Maya". yahoo.com. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  11. "'Gnana Samudhra' award for Randor Guy". The Hindu: Tamil Nadu/Chennai News. 13 November 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  12. Mehta, Purushottam Pragji (1979). Indo-Anglian Fiction: An Assessment. Prakash Book Depot. p. 367.

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.