Rajnikumar Pandya (1938-2025): A Gujarati writer fascinated by Hindi film music – and its creators

Imagine this: a man who once cherished a dream of becoming a professional singer but could not make it a reality. Decades later, his favourite singer ends up staying with him and even offers to teach him songs. But as fate would have it, the man had to turn down the offer, citing a lack of time.

It feels like a scene plucked straight from the pages of an O Henry story. Yet, this isn’t a tale of fiction – it is a slice of the remarkable and dramatic life of Rajnikumar Pandya, the iconic Gujarati writer and passionate music lover, who died in Ahmedabad on March 15.

Pandya was a literary giant – an exceptional short-story writer, an accomplished novelist and a master of compact and elaborated evocative profiles. He was deeply admired by readers across generations.

But beyond the world of letters, Pandya was deeply enamoured with the golden era of Hindi film music and the soul-stirring private compositions performed by artists like Jagmohan, Talat Mehmood, Mukesh and Manna Dey. His personal connections with legendary artists of yesteryear infused his writing with an intimate charm, making them a treasure trove of vivid anecdotes and profound insights into their personalities – rendered with the finesse...

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