Mahesh Tinaikar, who co-founded Rock Machine — the band that later operated under the name Indus Creed and helped establish rock music as a viable genre in India — died on Thursday following a heart attack. He was 63 years old. Guitarist Allan confirmed the death. ANI also reported that Tinaikar died as a result of a cardiac event.

Farhan Akhtar, who works across acting and directing in Bollywood and has long expressed an affinity for rock music, posted a monochrome image of the guitarist mid-performance as a mark of remembrance. Paired with the photograph, he posted an Instagram story tribute that named "maheshtinaikar" as a brother, accompanied by a folded-hands emoji and a red heart emoji.

On Instagram, singer-songwriter Vishal Dadlani shared a tribute describing the day as one on which the country had lost a figure of enduring stature in the music world. In a public statement, Dadlani conveyed his sympathies to the bandmates and family of Tinaikar, describing the loss as something that hit with the force of a physical blow, and expressing that the depth of grief facing udaybenegal, markselwyn1, zubinbalaporia, JayeshGandhi, shantanuhudlikar, and farhadwadia was beyond anything he could comprehend. He also reflected on the privilege of having shared a stage with Indus Creed and having acknowledged them openly.

Dadlani's statement further noted that Tinaikar had been among the founders of Rock Machine, the Mumbai-based band whose origins trace to 1984. Tinaikar's contributions to rock and roll through Rock Machine, according to Dadlani, laid down a course that later musicians followed. Those who knew him described his personal principles on questions of right and wrong as steady throughout his life.

Filling out the band's founding configuration, Tinaikar handled lead guitar duties alongside Mark Selwyn on bass, with Ian Santamaria on vocals, Aftab Currim on rhythm guitar, and Suresh Bhadricha on drums. The group adopted the name Indus Creed in 1994, bringing together vocalist Uday Benegal, keyboardist Zubin Balaporia, bassist Mark Selwyn, guitarist Jayesh Gandhi, and drummer Mark Menezes under that new identity.

During that period, Indus Creed secured a spot on MTV Asia that no Indian act had previously held and earned a continent-wide MTV Viewers' Choice Award through the track "Pretty Child." Beyond performing as a musician, Tinaikar brought original songwriting and compositional work to the television screen.

Teaching work entered his career around 2011, and he held a faculty position at True School of Music in Mumbai from 2016 through 2018.