Lawyer, advertising executive, writer, producer of documentaries, a chronicler on the evolution of Chennai, a well sought orator with humour-tinged speeches and a columnist on films, men and matters, multilinguist… The word multi-faceted best fits Randor Guy (RG), who passed away recently. RG began his career as a lawyer working as a junior to another multi-faceted cultural czar V C Gopalratnam. Thus, he had deep insights into the evolution of the Madras High Court and the legal luminaries concentrated in Mylapore. He observed the predilections and seamy sides of the zamindars, film personalities and others in the upper strata of society from close quarters.
RG developed a style for salacious gossip and titillating descriptions. These received wide appeal. He then joined Efficient Publicities as an executive and sharpened his flair for writing. For a while RG was a regular columnist for IE writing under the caption Beds below and heavens above.A few years ago, as part of the Madras Week celebrations, RG’s book Memories of Madras was released. It is a massive record of the evolution of movies in Madras covering six decades from 1897 to 1956. From the era of silent movies to the effective use of this mass medium by the DMK for building the party, the book tracks through various phases of cinema’s growth.
RG paid well-deserved tributes to the outstanding contributions of Ellis R Dungan, the American cinematographer, who infused technology, systems and management techniques into cinema, S S Vasan, A V Meiyappan, Kothamangalam Subbu and scores of others who made monumental contributions.
RG has described in detail the contribution of several celebrities – M S Subbulakshmi, Chembai and Chowdiah, N C Vasanthakokilam, Musiri Subramania Iyer, M M Dhandapani Desikar, G N Balasubramaniam, D K Pattammal, Papanasam Sivan, V V Satagopan, T N Rajaratnam Pillai, S Rajam, S Balachandar…..
If anyone who met RG, they would instantly identify his photographic memory and yen for details to narrate thousands of incidents.
RG is survived by his wife and daughter.
