Twitterati mourn the passing of 'Lord of Indian film music'

Twitterati mourn the passing of 'Lord of Indian film music'

Kersi Lord

Kersi Lord, son of percussionist Cawas, who introduced the unique percussion instrument 'glockenspiel' and also the synthesizer in Bollywood, passed away at the age of 81 on Sunday morning.

He was being treated for age-related illnesses at Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital.

A instrumentallist par excellence, he could play the bongo, piano, drums, and the accordion. He introduced the 'glockenspiel' in 'Main Zindagi ka Saath' -- music director Jaidev's 1961 masterpiece in the Dev Anand-starrer 'Hum Dono', and is said to have been the first in India to import the synthesizer. A close associate of RD Burman, he was famous for playing the accordion on S.D. Burman's ‘Roop Tera Mastana' in Aradhana.

Kersi Lord, who was not just a popular multi-instrumentalist, but also a part of RD's 'navratnas' which included Manohari Singh, Basudev Chakraborti, and Marutirao Keer. As one of RDB's closest associates, he even contributed in evergreen tracks like "Dum maaro dum" and "Chura liya hai tumne".

A brilliant music arranger, he also composed music for theatre personality Alyque Padamsee's play 'Tughlaq'.

Lord received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2010 for his contribution to Hindi cinema.

Born in Mumbai on February 14, 1935, Lord came from a family of musicians -- from his father to younger sister Hilla, who played the piano and brother Buji, who was also a top-notch percussionist.

Kersi is survived by his daughters Jasmin, Perizad and Zarine.

Various celebs took to Twitter to mourn his demise.