Jewel of Jhalawar dies

RAJKOT: One of the most celebrated folk artists of Gujarat Babubhai Ranpura died after a brief illness in Surendranagar on Wednesday night.
Ranpura had shot to fame by singing "Aapna malak na mayalu manvi", a very popular folk song at Eiffel Tower when he participated in Festival of India' in France in 1985.
Known as a jewel of Jhalawar, Ranpura was born in Jakasna village of Mehsana in 1943.Orphaned at an early age, he joined a theatre company at an early age of nine. His creative prowess was seen at this tender age when he started writing songs, composing and singing them.
This child prodigy went on to work with Ketan Mehta for this cult classic ?Mirch Masala' by writing and composing the songs for this Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah starrer. He also penned the songs of Bollywood film ?Rihaee'.
Bhupendra Dave, a close friend of Ranpura for 40 years, told TOI, "Babubhai has helped spread the culture and folk of Saurashtra, especially Jhalawar region, across the globe. He participated and even delivered lectures on folklore and music at London, Moscow, Paris and Bahrain apart from other places."
Ranpara was bestowed with Gujarat Gaurav Puraskar in 1998. "Despite the fame that he got, he was extremely humble and was known among his friends as pujya dayalu'," Dave said.