Indian rock has lost one of the musicians who helped shape its sound. Mahesh Tinaikar, one of India’s leading rock guitarists and a founding member of Indus Creed, passed away at a hospital in Mumbai on Thursday, October 15, at the age of 63, from a suspected heart attack.
Tinaikar’s musical journey started with Rock Machine, a rock band which he co-founded in 1984. The band would later go on to change their name to Indus Creed, but not before they became one of the biggest names in the country’s rock music scene. At a time when Indian rock was finding its sound, their tracks such as “Rock ‘n’ Roll Renegade,” “Top of the Rock” and “Pretty Child” gained a cult following – “Pretty Child” also won a MTV Asia Video Music Award. The band’s performances on homegrown stages like IROCK cemented their place in the Indian rock scene, and they also went on tour to Los Angeles, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom.
Indus Creed broke up in the late 1990s, and got back together in 2010 with a change in their lineup. Frontman Uday Benegal and Zubin Balaporia on keyboards stayed a part of the band, along with Tinaikar on guitar. They released a new album Evolve in 2012 – a full-length album after 17 years – and the track “Fireflies” immediately became a staple on fan playlists.
The band continued to perform on-stage – most recently, they opened for Def Leppard in Mumbai in March 2026. At Bandra’s Ollyfest last year, singer Vishal Dadlani joined them on-stage for a rendition of “Pretty Child”.
Along with being an on-stage inspiration for budding guitarists, Tinaikar also mentored them – he taught guitar at the True School of Music in Maharashtra.
News of Tinaikar’s passing has prompted tributes from across the music community. From Parikrama’s Subir Malik and actor and musician Farhan Akhtar to Universal Music Group India CEO Devraj Sanyal, the loss of one of the guitarists who paved the way for generations has been felt deeply. Dadlani summed it up in his tribute, “India lost a true LEGEND today. Every single rockandroller since #RockMachine owes Mahesh Tinaikar a debt of gratitude for lighting up the way that we couldn’t even imagine until they walked it!”
“The pain is so clear, like the tears in a baby’s eyes…” These lines from “Pretty Child” have become an expression of grief from the people who knew him, who have played with him, who have grown up with his music and have been inspired by the legacy he built.
