Titas Chowdhury (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 3, 2020)

The recent demise of music composer-singer Wajid Khan has left the music fraternity shocked. As soon as the news broke, on June 1, his peers, actors and fans took to social media to share their memories of him and pay condolences to his family.

Singer-performer Sona Mohapatra, who had co-judged a music reality show with him back in 2018, shares that Khan had been suffering for a while. “I know that Wajid was suffering from kidney ailments for a long time. Two years ago, he had a small accident on a set where he had hurt himself, but things became complicated because of his other medications and immunity being compromised. His brother Sajid (Khan) had been his pillar of strength through it all,” she says.

Talking about the composer who breathed his last at a hospital in Mumbai at the age of 42, Mohapatra says, “He was a generous, and a lovely person. He was a tabla player, a composer and had the best intentions to do good always.”

The singer says that she regrets not keeping in touch with him during the past few months. “A very affectionate man, he would bring home-cooked food for all of us on the sets regularly and was full of enthusiasm for life. I got along with him very well and deeply regret losing in touch with him during the Coronavirus lockdown,” she signs off.