Celebrities pays last respect to Santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

|HT|

Santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma died on Tuesday following a heart attack. Several film and music celebrities paid their last respects to him on Wednesday. Among them were Amitabh Bachchan and wife Jaya Bachchan who were seen at his funeral. Pandit Shivkumar Sharma's body was kept at his Pali Hill home on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the body was shifted to the Abhijit Cooperative Housing Society in Juhu for "public darshan" till 1 pm. His last rites will be held at Pawan Hans Crematorium in Vile Parle on Wednesday.

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, along with Hariprasad Chaurasia, gave music to Amitabh and Jaya's movie, Silsila. The santoor legend had been active till the end and was due to perform in Bhopal next week. He was also suffering from renal ailments. "He had a severe heart attack in the morning... He was active and was to perform in Bhopal next week. He was on regular dialysis but was still active," a family source said.

A Padma Vibhushan recipient, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma was born in Jammu in 1938 and is believed to be the first musician to have played Indian classical music on the santoor, a folk instrument from Jammu and Kashmir.

Upon learning of his death, Amitabh had written on his blog late Tuesday about how, "There is the passing away of the Maestro , ShivKumar Sharma, who played the santoor, a special instrument, from the valleys of Kashmir .. who designed so many film musics for me and many others .. continued success after success , numbs you from the pain of pain .. as also the reverse. Shivkumar ji, who played the ‘santoor’ in its brilliance .. who put his heart and soul into whatever he took up .. humble despite his incredible presence .. and the talent of a genius." He added, “A sad ending to the master of the string instrument .. he and Hari Prasad Chaurasia ji, the renowned flutist were a dua for film music .. they came as strong as they could .. played recorded and left.”

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