Santoor Maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma Passes Away At 84

Here's some heartbreaking news coming in from the Indian Music Industry. Legendary music composer and santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, breathed his last due to cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Tuesday (May 10).

As per a report in Indian Express, the musician had been suffering from kidney-related issues for the last six months and was on dialysis. A source close to the family told PTI, "He had a severe heart attack at around 9 am. He was active and was to perform in Bhopal next week. He was on regular dialysis but was still was active."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first ones to mourn Panditji's passing away on social media. He tweeted, "Our cultural world is poorer with the demise of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma Ji. He popularised the Santoor at a global level. His music will continue to enthral the coming generations. I fondly remember my interactions with him. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti."

A recipient of Padma Vibhushan, he is credited with giving santoor, once a little known instrument from Jammu and Kashmir, a classical status. Speaking about his body of work in films, the legendary santoor player had composed the background music for one of the scenes in V Shantaram's Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje in 1956.

As one half of Shiv-Hari, he composed music with flute legend Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia to give memorable tunes for films like Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Sahibaan to name a few.

Filmibeat offers heartfelt condolence to his family!