Chaitanya Deshpande (THE TIMES OF INDIA; May 23, 2021)

Nagpur: Music director Vijay Patil, popularly known as the Laxman of the Raam-Laxman duo, whose frisky tunes enlivened Dada Kondke’s Marathi superhits and the early Salman Khan blockbusters, passed away following a heart attack on Saturday. He was 78.

His chartbusters came in films such as Tarana, Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Patthar Ke Phool and Pandu Havaldar (Marathi).

Among those who mourned his demise on social media were the peerless Lata Mangeshkar and Bollywood star Salman Khan. Production house Rajshri, for whom the music director was a regular, also posted their condolences. “Rajshri will always remember him for his immense contribution to the music industry,” it tweeted.

Apart from Khan, Raam-Laxman’s music also boosted the early career of Mithun Chakraborty films such as Tarana and Hum Se Badhkar Kaun and gave a second wind to S P Balasubrahmanyam as Salman’s playback in late 1980s and early ’90s Bollywood.

The music of Raam-Laxman was based on the basics of orchestra and took the legacy of Laxmikant-Pyarelal forward. Melody, even in foot-tapping numbers, was a special feature of their music. Use of traditional Indian instruments along with the typical orchestra set-up made their songs popular.

Patil, born and brought up in Nagpur, started as a singer and instrumentalist in the city’s popular orchestra groups. Later, he shifted to Mumbai to become a music director. With his friend Surendra ‘Raam’ Kadam, Patil formed a team which was given the sobriquet ‘Raam-Laxman’ by Kondke. It was the well-known Marathi filmmaker-cum-actor who gave them their break in the film industry with ‘Pandu Havaldar’ in 1975.

Even after the death of Kadam, soon after the pair bagged its first Hindi film ‘Agent Vinod’, Patil continued to provide melodies to more than 75 Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri films as ‘Raam-Laxman’. Rajshri Productions’ songs in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ (Filmfare award), ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ (many awards) and ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ proved to be super-duper hits.

‘Lovleena aa gaya main’ from ‘Agent Vinod’ in 1977 and ‘Deva ho deva, Ganapati Deva’ from ‘Humse Badhkar Kaun’ in 1981 stand out in his oeuvre.

Patil composed several chartbusters during the 1980s and 1990s before the advent of Nadeem Shravan and Anu Malik.

Ten years ago, a brain stroke made it difficult for Patil to sing and compose. He shifted to Nagpur and lived with son Amar who too is into music.

Patil kept away from the media and lived a quiet life in the Untkhana area of the city.

Family members said Patil was not a Coronavirus patient and had taken both doses of the vaccine. On Friday night, he complained of chest pain. Before he could be shifted to a hospital, he got a severe cardiac arrest and died at home around 2 am.

People from Nagpur’s music industry were the first to pay tribute to Patil. “He was a dear friend. I will remember his association with Kader Orchestra. When we started a music academy, I had invited him to inaugurate it. Despite being unwell, he came,” said singer M A Kader.

Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar said, “Felt very sad hearing the news about talented and popular composer Raam Laxman ji (Vijay Patil). He was a nice person. Many songs composed by him and sung by me became very popular. My sincere tributes to him.”

In 2018, Raam-Laxman were bestowed the Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar.
----------------------------
BOMBAY TIMES (May 23, 2021)

Music composer Vijay Patil — Laxman of the Raam-Laxman duo — passed away on Saturday at his residence in Nagpur. Patil, 79, suffered a heart attack, his son Amar informed. “He had taken the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine six days ago. There was no problem at that time... But when he came home, he developed weakness. His parameters were dropping. Doctors were attending at home. He passed away at around 2 am on Saturday. He had a cardiac arrest,” Amar said.

Patil, along with his partner Surendra (Raam), had composed music for many Hindi and Marathi films in the past over four decades. Surendra passed away in 1976, but Patil continued to compose under the same name in the memory of his friend. He scored the music for films like Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Agent Vinod, Taraana, 100 Days and Hum Se Badhkar Kaun, among others.

Legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar paid tribute to Patil on social media. “Mujhe abhi pata chala ki bahut guni aur lokpriya sangeetkar Ram 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 (sic),” she wrote.