Salman, Lata Mangeshkar mourn composer Raam Laxman's death

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan took to social media on Saturday to mourn the demise of veteran composer Laxman of the popular Raam Laxman duo. Laxman, who continued working as Raam Laxman after the death of his partner Raam, passed away in Nagpur earlier in the day. Laxman, or Vijay Patil, had composed the music for several Salman Khan films such as "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!", "Hum Saath-Saath Hain" and "Patthar Ke Phool".

"Ram Laxman, music director of my successful films like Maine Pyaar Kiya, Patthar Ke Phool, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Hum Apke Hain Kaun has sadly passed away. May his soul rest in peace. Condolences to the bereaved family," Salman Khan tweeted.

Others from the film industry, especially those who have worked with him, also mourned the composer's demise on social media. Ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas posted: "Veteran music composer Ram Laxman (Vijay Patil ) composer of many hit films like Meine Pyaar Kiya and many passed away due to a heart attack last night I had the privilege to work with him specially a song Mein Tere Saath Hun from film Patthar. May his soul rest in eternal peace."

Earlier in the day, playback legend Lata Mangeshkar was one of the first to tweet: "Mujhe abhi pata chala ki bahut guni aur lokpriya sangeetkar Raam Laxman ji (Vijay Patil) ji ka swargwas hua. Ye sunke mujhe bahut dukh hua. Wo bahut acche insaan the. Maine unke kai gaane gaaye jo bahut lokpriya hue.

Main unko vinamra shraddhanjali arpan karti hun [I have come to know that the extremely talented and popular music composer Raam Laxman ji (Vijay Patil) ji has breathed his last. I'm extremely saddened to hear this. He was a very nice person. I've lent my voice to several of his songs that became very popular. I pay my humble respect to him."

"I have worked with Vijay ji, known to the world as Raam Laxman, in films like Hum Saath-Saath Hain and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and three to four others. Most of the songs we worked on together became hits," recalled singer Kumar Sanu.

"The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of him is his behaviour. He was a jovial and soft-spoken person and always wore a smile on his face. His words were always sweet and I have never seen him lose his temper. He was a fantastic human being. His demise is definitely a huge loss for the industry. All we can do is pray, so that his soul rests in peace,"he said.