Mahesh Tinaikar

Mahesh Tinaikar died in Mumbai on Thursday 15 October 2026. About two weeks earlier he had complained of stomach pain and suffered a heart attack while undergoing an endoscopy at a hospital in Borivali, according to the Hindustan Times. His Indus Creed bandmates told Rolling Stone India that he died following a suspected heart attack, and the Times of India reported cardiac arrest. Guitarist Allan Ao was among the first to confirm the news. Keyboardist Zubin Balaporia said the two had been discussing a new song only the day before.

Based on his 1964 birth date he was 62, the age given by the Hindustan Times, while Rolling Stone India and the Times of India reported him as 63. His funeral was scheduled for Friday 16 October at the Banganga crematorium in Mumbai.

Tributes came from across Indian music and film. Vishal Dadlani called him a true legend and said every rock and roller since Rock Machine owed him a debt of gratitude, and Farhan Akhtar, Ehsaan Noorani, Gary Lawyer and Floyd Francisco Fernandes were among those who remembered him.

Mahesh Tinaikar was born on 19 February 1964 and grew up in Bombay, now Mumbai. He was the son of S. S. Tinaikar, who served as the city's municipal commissioner and was known as a famously strict administrator, though he was content to let his long-haired son pursue rock music.

Tinaikar did not come from a family of musicians. As a boy he heard Indian classical and film songs on his mother's radio, and he was about eight when his elder brother brought home borrowed records by The Ventures and The Shadows, showing him what an electric guitar could do. He later credited Deep Purple, The Who and Creedence Clearwater Revival with drawing him into rock, and he and fellow guitarist Ehsaan Noorani bonded over the twin guitar parts of Wishbone Ash.

His parents wanted him to concentrate on his studies, so he did not begin playing until he was 18. His first attempt was on a borrowed classical guitar that he mistakenly fitted with steel strings, making it almost unplayable, and he taught himself chords from a book, starting with Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind. Guitarists gathering near the Oval Maidan, including Noorani, shared blues techniques with him.

In 1984 Tinaikar and guitarist Jayesh Gandhi turned up at bassist Mark Selwyn's home and asked him to form a band. With drummer Suresh Bhadricha and singer Ian Santamaria, plus rhythm guitarist Aftab Currim in the earliest lineup, they became Rock Machine. When Santamaria could not get leave for a concert in Goa, Tinaikar recruited Uday Benegal, whom he had heard at a college talent show, and keyboardist Zubin Balaporia joined soon after.

Rock Machine released Rock 'n' Roll Renegade in 1988, featuring Top of the Rock and The Enemy Within, and The Second Coming in 1990, featuring Pretty Child. MTV Asia played the Pretty Child video in heavy rotation and it won a Viewers' Choice Award. Renamed Indus Creed in the early 1990s to give the band a stronger Indian identity, the group recorded in Los Angeles, toured Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom, headlined Independence Rock at Mumbai's Rang Bhavan and released a self-titled album in 1995. The band went on a break in 1997.

Tinaikar then worked with singer Gary Lawyer, playing guitar on and producing his 2004 album Unbelong, later reissued as No Turning Back, and he composed music for television. He joined Uday Benegal's acoustic project Whirling Kalapas around 2009, and in 2010 the pair revived Indus Creed with Balaporia, bassist Rushad Mistry and drummer Jai Row Kavi. Evolve, the band's first album in 17 years, followed on Universal Music in 2012, with a new version of Fireflies. Tinaikar left Whirling Kalapas in 2014 citing creative differences and began a solo project, while Indus Creed released singles such as Thief, opened for Santana in Bengaluru and for Def Leppard at Mumbai's Jio World Garden in March 2026, and played a trio set in Khandala in April 2026. He also taught guitar, including on the faculty of the True School of Music in Mumbai.

Tinaikar lived in Mumbai throughout his life. Friends described him as a quiet, calm presence on stage who played with blazing intensity, and as a guitarist who kept studying other players, from Michael Schenker to the jazz guitarists John Scofield and Larry Carlton. He regularly posted video covers inspired by Steve Morse, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Paul Simon on social media under the handle sheeshling, a nod to his nickname Sheesh.

He had dealt with health problems for many years, though friends said he had been careful about his health. Details of his marriage or children were not reported in coverage of his death.

Tinaikar is remembered as one of the musicians who proved that an Indian rock band playing original songs could fill stadiums. Rock Machine and Indus Creed helped turn Independence Rock and the college concert circuit into a central part of Mumbai's cultural life, and alongside Delhi's Parikrama the band defined Indian rock in the 1990s.

Generations of Indian guitarists cite him as an influence. Floyd Francisco Fernandes recalled that, at a time when good playing could only be heard on tape, Tinaikar stood on stage at Rang Bhavan year after year with his black Ibanez and rainbow strap, inspiring young players to pick up the instrument. Through his teaching and his work with Indus Creed until the final months of his life, he passed that influence on to younger musicians.