Surender Mohan Pathak

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Surender Mohan Pathak (born 19 Feb 1940 at Khemkaran, Amritsar, Punjab) is considered to be one of the most talented writers in Hindi crime fiction with nearly 300 major novels to his credit. His long and creative career, along with his full time job in Indian Telephone Industries,Delhi, begun in the early sixties with his exceptionally brilliant Hindi translations of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, and the works of James Hadley Chase. He also wrote his own James Bond series.

His first short-story 57 saal puraana aadmi (The Man aged 57), was published by Manohar Kahaniyan in 1959, and first full length novel Operation Budapest came out in 1969.

But the real success story started with what is called Sunil-series, whose 115^th novel has been released recently. Sunil, a debonair and upright investigative journalist in the fictional daily Blast became a household name in no time. Living in fictional metro Rajnagar, Sunil has a quixotic nature when it comes to damsels in distress, which happens too often and in pursuit of justice, mostly with help of his best friend Ramakant Malhotra, a dipsomaniac and owner of a bar called Youth Club, he often gets into wrong side of law and has to face Inspector Prabhudayal, the exceptionally strict and incorruptible in-charge of homicide division. Pathak does not go for foolishly unrealistic plots, which is, sadly, the hallmark of Indian detective fiction, but sticks to only what is believable and his works, which sometimes even challenge Arthur Conan Doyle in terms of brilliance and plot-complication when it comes closed-room mysteries and impossible-crimes like in Dhamki and Kanoon Ka Challenge.

The philosopher detective Sudhir Kumar Kohli is another hit character of him. This series is totally reciprocal likewise Sunil as in this dilli ka khaas kism ka haraami is the hero and likewise Inspector Devender Kumar Yadav who can easily be persuaded to do something dishonest.

However greatest achievement of Mr. Pathak is Vimal a.k.a. Sardar Surender Singh Sohal a.k.a. other two dozen names he uses to camouflage his identity in Mumbai underworld, where he has taken up arms against the wicked and ruthless gangsters like Rajbahadur Bakhia, and after killing him, his next avtar Iqbal Singh and then Vyaas Shankar Gajre. The Sardar, due to his nobel nature, has also won over friends like Tukaram and his henchmen like Wagle and Irfan etc.

The interesting, and perhaps frightening, point is that like other fiction heroes Vimal is not a private detective or police inspector but a criminal wanted in seven states.

He is also known for his great sense of wit and humor.Many collections of Joke-books compiled by him have been published.

Many authors have been known to plagiarise or "borrow" heavily from his works

[edit] Trivia

Pathak was the first writer to coin the term Company, that has today become a common slang for Mumbai underworld

The famous Tandoor scandal in Delhi, in which the killer had tried to dispose off the corpse of his victim in a furnace, was an idea taken from his non-serial masterpiece titled Mavaali.

A recent robbery at UTI Bank, Vikaspuri, a man called Sandeep Bhatnagar looted four million Indian rupees by pretending to be a human bomb. Investigators learned after arresting the culprit that idea was exactly copied from Zameer ka Qaidi, one of the latest Vimal-series hits.

[edit] Bibliography

List of Vimal-Series Novels
1.Maut ka Khel	2.Daulat aur Khoon	3.Ishtihari Mujrim	4.Asfal Abhiyan
5.Har-Jeet	6.Vimal Ka Insaf	7.Khoon Ke Aansu	8.Maut Ka Nach
9.Jeena Yahan	10.Marna Yaha	11.Chehre pe Chehera	12.Kismat ka Khel
13.Pap ki Nagri	14.Lekh ki Rekha	15.Jahaj Ka Panchi	16.KhabarDar Shehri
17.Maut Ka Rasta	18.Daar Se Bichura	19.Maut Ke Muh Me	20.Ultimatum
21.Sau Crore Ki Gullak	22.Chhey Sir wala Ravan	22.Aaj Quatal Ho Ke Rahega	23.Hazaar Hath
24.Daman Chakra	25.Chey Crore Ka Murda	26.Jauhar Jawala	27.Zamir Ka Quadi
28.Karm Yodha	29.Palat War	30.Sher Sawari	31.Aag ka Daria
32.Khalee War	33.Paishat Lakh Ki dacoity	34.Chandal choukadi	35.Din Dahade Daquati
36.Bank Van Robbery	37.Khatre Ki Ghanti (How Vimal Series Started)

Khalee War and Asfal Abhiyan are the only two books which feature Sunil and Vimal both.

List of some Sunil-Series Novels
1.Papi Pariwar	2.Black List	3.Jhooti Gawahi	4.Ahirwal Case
5.Stop Press	6.Finger Prints	7.Kamra No 303	8.Dhamkee
9.Band Darwaja	10.Meena Murder Case	11.Kanoon Ka challenge	12.Blackmailer Ki Hatya
13.Peela Gulab	14.Ghar Ka Bhedi	15. Nishani	16. Jhansa
17.Safed Khoon	18.Scandal Point	19.Gunaah Ki Zanjir