Veteran music composer Vijay Patil passed away on Saturday after a heart attack. He was 79.

Vijay Patil had composed the albums of Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Hum Saath Saath Hain, all directed by Sooraj Barjatiya. Before that, he was the composer on films like Agent Vinod (1977), Taraana, 100 Days, Hum Se Badhkar Kaun and others.

Vijay was one half of the famed Raam Laxman duo. His musical partner, Surendra (Raam), had died in 1976. Together, they had composed music for many Hindi and Marathi films. Vijay kept their stage name after Surendra’s death.

Lata Mangeshkar, a close collaborator of Raam Laxman, shared her condolences on Twitter.

She wrote in Hindi, “I just found out that the very talented and popular musician Ram Laxman ji (Vijay Patil) passed away. I am very saddened to hear this. He was a great man. I sang many songs of his which became hugely popular. I pay my humble tributes to him.”