Mourning the demise of the Santoor legend, Big B had shared on his blog, “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 .. 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.”
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma passed away at his Pali Hill residence on Tuesday morning. “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 was active,” a family source had told PTI. Pandit Shivkumar Sharma is survived by his wife Manorama and sons Rahul, also a santoor player, and Rohit. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s office had said in a statement on Tuesday that the Santoor virtuoso will be cremated with state honours.
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was born in Jammu in 1938. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986. The legend was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri in 1991 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001. He composed music with flute legend Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia for iconic films like ‘Silsila’, ‘Lamhe’, ‘Chandni’ and ‘Darr’.
