Veteran Gujarati music composer, arranger and singer Gaurang Vyas died in Ahmedabad late on 2 September 2026 at the age of 87. The son of Padma Shri awardee Avinash Vyas, he composed music for more than 100 Gujarati films and over 500 sugam sangeet pieces. His passing marks the end of a defining era in Gujarati film, folk and devotional music.
Who Was Gaurang Vyas?
Gaurang Vyas was a Gujarati music composer, arranger and singer. A composer creates the tune for a song. An arranger decides which instruments, rhythm and voices will support that tune. A singer performs it.
He was born in Mumbai on 24 November 1938. His father was Avinash Vyas, the noted Gujarati film composer, lyricist and singer who received the Padma Shri in 1970. His mother was Vasumati. Music came to him early. At the age of five, he could play the bhajan Vaishnav Jan To on the harmonium.
He studied at Podar High School in Mumbai and later earned a diploma in mechanical engineering from a college in Ahmedabad. He briefly worked with the Khandelwal Engineering Company in Mumbai. He soon left the job to devote himself fully to music. In 1967, he married Nayanaben in Ahmedabad, the city where he lived and worked for most of his life.
From Engineering to Independent Music Director
Gaurang Vyas began his film career as an assistant to his father. He worked with Avinash Vyas on Jesal Toral, one of the most popular Gujarati films of its time. He also collaborated on Upar Gagan Vishal, which earned praise for its music.
He made his debut as an independent music director with Lakho Phulani in 1976. The lyrics for the film were written by his father Avinash Vyas. For a comic song in the film, he brought Hindi playback star Kishore Kumar to sing in Gujarati cinema.
The same film gave singer Prafull Dave his first major break. Vyas asked him to sing Maniyaro Te Halu Halu Thai Re Viyo, which became a household song in Gujarat. He also worked with singer and composer Purushottam Upadhyay on Liludi Dharati. The pair jointly won the Best Music Director award for the film. This early phase showed his style clearly. He respected tradition but liked to experiment with new voices and fresh orchestration.
Music for More Than 100 Gujarati Films
By 2004, Gaurang Vyas had composed music for more than 100 Gujarati films. Some filmographies place the total at more than 125 films, along with title songs for about 25 television serials. His best known films include Parki Thapan, Maniyaro, Nasibni Balihari, Liludi Dharati, Maiyarman Mandu Nathi Lagtu and Ketan Mehta’s acclaimed Bhavni Bhavai (1980).
A special quality of his work was his ability to bring leading Hindi playback singers into Gujarati cinema. He composed tunes sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor, Suman Kalyanpur, Bhupinder Singh and Preeti Sagar. For Parki Thapan, he got Lata Mangeshkar to sing Dikri To Parki Thapan Kahevay, a daughter’s farewell song. The song became immensely popular and is still sung at weddings in Gujarat.
Other memorable songs from his films include Maniyaro Te Halu Halu Thai Re Viyo and Hu Tu Tu Tu, Jami Ramatni Rutu. He was known as an experimental music director who blended folk tunes, classical base and modern arrangement. At a time when Mumbai was seen as the centre of recording, he helped build a strong music recording and production base in Ahmedabad and Gujarat.
Contribution to Sugam Sangeet and Devotional Music
Gaurang Vyas worked far beyond cinema. Sugam sangeet means light music, in which Gujarati poems, ghazals and devotional verses are set to simple and melodious tunes. Vyas composed music for more than 500 such pieces written by noted Gujarati poets and ghazal writers. This is considered one of the largest such bodies of work by a single Gujarati composer.
He also shaped Gujarati devotional and folk listening through his albums. His popular albums include Ganga Satina Bhajano, Jalaramni Jhumpdi, Bhajan Anmol, Kahat Kabir, Jalaram Bapanu Halaradu, Prachin Prabhatiyan and Non-Stop Dandiya-Raas. Gangasati was a medieval Gujarati saint poet known for her spiritual bhajans, and Vyas’s musical settings took her verses to a wide audience. He also popularised raas and garba, the circular folk dance forms of Gujarat performed during Navratri, through modern musical arrangements.
He was closely linked with Shruti, an organisation set up in Ahmedabad in 1961 to promote Gujarati sugam sangeet, and served as one of its guiding figures. Under his direction, HMV produced the records Shravanmadhuri and Sagarnu Sangeet. His music was also included in the Geet Re Geet series of the Gujarat State School Textbook Board, so schoolchildren learned his tunes as part of their lessons. He also composed for dance dramas, documentaries and television serials.
Awards and Recognition
Gaurang Vyas received about 11 Gujarat State awards for Best Music for Gujarati films. He was also honoured with the Gaurav Puraskar by the Gujarat State Sangeet Nrutya Natya Akademi, the state academy for music, dance and drama. The academy functions under the cultural department of the Gujarat government and honours artists for sustained contribution.
His father Avinash Vyas had composed music for over 190 Gujarati films and more than 1,200 film songs, and won state film awards 25 times. Gaurang Vyas is remembered for carrying this legacy forward while creating his own identity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute after his death and said Vyas had earned a distinct place in Gujarati music and that his contribution would always be remembered. Artists, singers and writers across Gujarat described his death as the end of a golden chapter and said his songs would keep him alive in public memory.
Key Takeaways
- Gujarati music composer Gaurang Vyas died in Ahmedabad on 2 September 2026 at the age of 87.
- He was born on 24 November 1938 in Mumbai and was the son of Padma Shri awardee Avinash Vyas.
- He debuted as an independent music director with Lakho Phulani in 1976 after assisting his father on Jesal Toral.
- He composed music for more than 100 Gujarati films, including Bhavni Bhavai, Parki Thapan and Maniyaro.
- He set Lata Mangeshkar’s famous farewell song Dikri To Parki Thapan Kahevay to music and composed over 500 sugam sangeet pieces.
- He won about 11 Gujarat State Best Music awards and received the Gaurav Puraskar from the Gujarat State Sangeet Nrutya Natya Akademi.
