Wajid Khan was 42 (courtesy taran_adarsh)
Highlights
- Wajid Khan died at a Mumbai hospital in the wee hours of Monday
- He was admitted to the hospital for kidney infection
- "He was on the ventilator for the last four days," said Salim Merchant
Music composer Wajid Khan of renowned composer duo Sajid-Wajid died at a Mumbai hospital in the wee hours of Monday because of complications from kidney infection, reported news agency PTI. He was 42. Wajid Khan, best known for composing peppy Bollywood numbers along with his brother Sajid, was mourned on Twitter by Bollywood celebrities with tweets pouring in from the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, Varun Dhawan, Preity Zinta, Arjun Kapoor and others. Wajid Khan, who is known for composing for Salman Khan films with brother Sajid and also for singing popular songs of the actor, was remembered by the super star in these words: "Wajid, will always love, respect, remember and miss you as a person and your talent. Love you and may your beautiful soul rest in peace."
Earlier, Mr Bachchan had tweeted: "Shocked at the passing of Wajid Khan. A bright smiling talent passes away. Duas, prayers and in condolence" while Akshay remembered Wajid Khan as "Talented and ever-smiling" in his tweet. "An irreplaceable loss for the music industry," wrote Anil Kapoor in his condolence tweet.
On Monday morning, Abhishek tweeted: "Rest in harmony, my friend. Had the pleasure of working with both Sajid-Wajid most loving and brilliant." Priyanka wrote in her tweet: "Terrible news. The one thing I will always remember is Wajid bhai's laugh. Always smiling. Gone too soon. My condolences to his family and everyone grieving. Rest in peace my friend. You are in my thoughts and prayers." Karan Johar tweeted: "Wajid Khan, your music will always live on." Preity, currently in Los Angeles like Priyanka, tweeted: "I will miss you and our jam sessions forever. Till we meet again."
Arbaaz Khan, who worked with Wajid Khan in the Dabangg films, posted this note on Instagram: "The music industry has lost a gem."
Wajid Khan's colleagues from the music industry also remembered the composer in fond memories. Singer-composer Salim Merchant, who earlier confirmed the news of Wajid Khan's death to PTI, posted this heart-wrenching tweet: "You've gone too soon. It's a huge loss to our fraternity. I'm shocked and broken. Tributes also poured in from singers Vishal Dadlani, Shankar Mahadevan, Adnan Sami, Harshdeep Kaur, composer duo Sachin-Jigar and others.
After Wajid Khan's death, speaking to news agency PTI, Salim Merchant said Mr Khan was admitted to Mumbai's Surana Hospital in Chembur a few days ago following complications related to kidney infection and that his condition eventually deteriorated: "He had multiple issues. He had a kidney issue and had a transplant a while ago. But recently he got to know about kidney infection... He was on the ventilator for the last four days, after his situation started getting worse. Kidney infection was the beginning and then he got critical."
Sajid-Wajid made their debut as composers, creating music for Salman Khan's film Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya in 1998 and continued composing songs for Salman Khan films in the years to come - they composed entire playlists for the Dabangg series of films, Partner and Welcome. Wajid Khan recently co-composed Salman's songs Pyaar Karona and Bhai Bhai, which the actor released during the lockdown. Sajid-Wajid also composed the theme songs for Salman Khan-hosted reality TV shows Bigg Boss 4 and Bigg Boss 6.
Wajid Khan was also a playback singer and sang tracks such as Mera He Jalwa, Fevicol Se, Chinta Ta Chita Chita, Mashallah, among others. Wajid Khan also sang the theme song of IPL 4, which was composed by the duo.
Wajid Khan and his brother Sajid were part of reality music show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012 and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar as mentors.