Mahesh Tinaikar, Indus Creed founding guitarist, has died at 63

Mahesh Tinaikar, the guitarist who co-founded one of India's first great English-language rock bands, died on 15 October 2026. He was 63. Reports say he died after a heart attack; we have not seen a family or band statement on the cause.

Who he was

Tinaikar co-founded Rock Machine in Mumbai in 1984. The band, with Uday Benegal on vocals, Zubin Balaporia on keys, Mark Selwyn on bass, Jayesh Gandhi on guitar and Mark Menezes on drums, played the college and club circuit at a time when original Indian rock had almost no infrastructure behind it. It was later renamed Indus Creed, and the name stuck as shorthand for the first generation of Indian bands writing their own songs in English.

Tinaikar was also a long-time music teacher and educator, and later played in other projects including an acoustic outfit of his own. For many Indian guitarists, a lesson or a gig with him was where the craft started.

The tributes

Filmmaker and musician Farhan Akhtar posted a black-and-white photograph of Tinaikar on Instagram with the words "RIP brother #maheshtinaikar."

Vishal Dadlani, one half of Vishal-Shekhar and a rock musician himself, called Tinaikar a legend and said the band's work inspired generations of Indian rock players. He thanked Tinaikar and his bandmates for paving the way, said he was grateful to have shared a stage with Indus Creed, and sent condolences to Tinaikar's family and to Benegal, Selwyn, Balaporia and Gandhi.

Our condolences go to his family, his bandmates and everyone who learned from him.