CHENNAI: Madabhushi Rangadorai, popularly known by his pen name Randor Guy, a veteran film historian, died on Sunday following age-related ailments in Chennai. He was 86.
A lawyer by profession, he found his calling in writing after practising law for a few years. He started his writing career by writing about criminal cases, then shifted to movies due to his interest in them.
In his own words, he had a ‘photographic memory’ which helped him write interesting columns about the history of Tamil cinema and other topics including crime and law. He has also written several books in Tamil and English about cinema and Chennai.
Paying tribute to him on Twitter, many users said that his writings were a treasure trove to those who wanted to know about the early days of the Tamil film industry and inspired them to know more about the subject. “Very sorry to know of the passing of Randor Guy. He wrote prolifically on the legal and film history of Madras apart from other topics related to the city’s past. He was a very gifted speaker too,” said historian V Sriam on Twitter.