He was a great guy and one of those true-blue musicians. Like a fakir, his soul was filled with music. He had a great sense of humour and had an infectious persona. My favourite memory of him is when I was once performing at an event and he asked me if he could play with me. He then jammed on the tabla to my songs. I still can't believe he's gone.

Paresh Kamath (Kailasa): I'm completely shocked to hear it since I had last come to know that he was recovering from the coma. It's going to be a big loss to the music scene, and a personal loss to me. He was one of the few musicians who managed to get his band into such a great position, without going the Bollywood route.

I go back with him a long way ­ I played the guitar on `Bandeh' and other tracks in Black Friday. He was a very sweet and chilled-out guy. I loved his music; his music had a soothing effect on me. I'll miss him.

Surojit Dev (Themclones): It's like the end of an era for me. I have been listening to his music for around 15 years now, even before Them Clones was formed.

We have played together several times and I remember having brief chats with him. And he was the most down-toearth person, always jovial and happy.

I'm feeling so bad for his family, for the band, and for music, I don't even know how to react.

He was the voice of ‘Jordan’ in Rockstar. His past experience as the lead singer of the band Silk Route showed in his rendition of A. R. Rahman’s tracks, and this is what gave Ranbir Kapoor the asli rock star image in the film. Now Indian pop and playback singer Mohit Chauhan, who rose to fame in Bollywood with Tum Se Hi in Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met and Masak Kali in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6, is onto a bigger kick. He is putting together a tribute to Bollywood’s legendary filmmaker Nasir Husain in whose cinema the music was always exceptional.

Right from Dil Dekhe Dekho and Teesri Manzil to Yaadon Ki Baraat and Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai, Nasir Saab introduced Bollywood to a genre of music that is the stuff encyclopedias are made of. Mohit is reluctant to talk about the album. But sources say the singer’s tribute will have handpicked numbers from several Nasir Husain films featuring Shammi Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor. Some tracks will be re-mixed. And Rishi and Randhir Kapoor are likely to help Mohit with the selection of the songs.

The singer is super-enthused about this new album. “My last album Fitoor spawned popular tracks that are in demand at my concerts. I am hoping my new album too will have such an impact,” he said. The fact that Rockstar’s songs were the craze of the nation some time ago will help Mohit find a market beyond films. He was honored to be Ranbir’s voice in the film, especially since director Imtiaz Ali and music composer A R Rahman wanted only one uniform voice, and not three-four playback singers, to sing for the musician-hero.

“I guess I was fortunate to be the chosen one,” Mohit admitted. His rapport with Ranbir shows in the latter’s performance to the music on screen. “We spent a lot of time together. And he often flew to Chennai for Rahman’s recordings. When you see Ranbir on screen you know he isn’t faking the words, music or voice. He feels them from inside.” Mohit also taught Ranbir how to strum riffs on the guitar. “He wasn’t only playing a musician. He was completely into the groove,” said Mohit.