Pyarelal’s wife Sunila dies: Veteran composer performs last rites in a wheelchair

4 min readMumbaiJul 14, 2026 09:26 AM IST

Pyarelal's wife Sunila died in Mumbai.

Veteran music composer Pyarelal of the iconic duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal lost his wife, Sunila, on Monday. She died in Mumbai at the age of 78. Pyarelal performed the last rites of his wife at her funeral at Santacruz Crematorium later in the day. Since he’s no longer able to walk properly owing to old age, Pyarelal remained seated on the wheelchair as he performed all the rituals.

Sunila Pyarelal’s death

Sunila Pyarelal’s demise was announced on Monday through a statement by her extended family. Fondly known as “Amma”, she was 78 at the time of her death. “Amma lived a life of grace, devotion and quiet strength – a pillar of unconditional love to all who knew her. While our hearts are heavy, we find comfort knowing she is finally at peace. Your work here is beautifully finished, Amma. Rest in eternal peace,” read the family’s statement.

Industry tributes

Several members of the Hindi film and music industry attended the funeral of Pyarelal’s wife. Among those who attended were singers Sudhesh Bhosle and Shabbir Kumar, radio host RJ Anmol, and filmmaker Subhash Ghai.

Veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who worked with Laxmikant-Pyarelal in his hit films like Hero (1983), Karz (1980), Ram Lakhan (1989), and Khal Nayak (1993) among others, took to his Instagram handle on Monday and shared shared a recent photograph featuring Sunila, Pyarelal, his daughter Muskaan and himself, along with an emotional note.

“Smt. Sunila Pyarelal, wife of great music duo #luxmikant’s Pyarelal, left us yesterday, and I could not believe it as myself, with my daughter, went to visit Pyarelal ji home last month to greet both of them. And we had a lovely time,” wrote Ghai. He added that he knows them since 1976 and has frequented their home several times.

“She was ever smiling lady, the strongest backbone of our very simple, honest and genius Pyare ji in his growth at all levels. I can imagine the unbearable loss of Pyare ji and we all pray a great spiritual strength to him to maintain his good health. We all are there with you, Pyare ji. Stay strong and with new music, we all look forward (folded hands and red heart emojis),” added the filmmaker.

Who were Laxmikant-Pyarelal?

Laxmikant-Pyarelal, consisting of the duo Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma, worked together for more than three decades and composed music for over 750 films. They’re best known for lending memorable soundtracks of films like TR Ramanna’s 1970 romance Humjoli, Mukul Dutt’s 1970 musical drama Aan Milo Sajna, Raj Kapoor’s 1973 young romance Bobby, and Pramod Chakravarty’s Dream Girl (1977).

The legendary duo also composed Manmohan Desai’s 1977 comedy Amar Akbar Anthony, Kapoor’s 1978 romantic drama Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Raj Khosla’s 1980 buddy movie Dostana, Desai’s 1981 potboiler Naseeb, K Balachander’s 1981 romantic drama Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Shekhar Kapur’s 1987 superhero movie Mr. India, N Chandra’s 1988 action thriller Tezaab, and Mukul Anand’s 1990 revenge saga Agneepath and 1991 action drama Hum among others.

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Following Laxmikant’s death in 1998, Pyarelal worked selectively but continued to credit their music as Laxmikant-Pyarelal. One of his last widely recognised arrangements was the song “Dhoom Tana” from Farah Khan’s 2007 film Om Shanti Om.