Senior rock artiste Sadanand Atmaram Bhende aka Nandu Bhende breathed his last on 11th April 2014. He was 58. He was the son of the well-loved Marathi actor-director Atmaram Bhende and worked with bands such as Velvette Fogg, Savage Encounter, Atomic Forest in his days of glory.

Nandu died of a heart attack on April 11 on the way to hospital after complaining of chest pain. One of the pioneers of the early rock music scene in India during the 70s and one of the best rock singers the country has produced.

Sadanand Atmaram Bhende, better known to all who love rock music as Nandu Bhende, was the son of Marathi actor-director, Atmaram Bhende and Dr Asha Bhende. While he was studying at Elphinstone College, Mumbai, Nandu formed his first band, Velvette Fogg, which played at many of the five star venues in Mumbai and also won several awards including the All India Simla Beat Contest. After Velvette Fogg disbanded, Nandu became the frontman for the Brief Encounter and later for Savage Encounter, which was formed when the Savages and Brief Encounter decided to merge.

Besides performing with some of the best bands in the Indian rock music scene, Nandu’s highly acclaimed performance as ‘Judas’ in Alyque Padamsee’s adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar, brought him even greater recognition. It led to Dr Jabbar Patel casting him as ‘Mack the Knife’ in Teen Paisacha Tamasha, P L Deshpande’s musical adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s, Three Penny Opera. The musical score which was partly composed by Nandu included songs in Marathi rendered by him in rock music style became very popular and also received a lot critical acclaim. He also played the lead role of the deaf, dumb and blind boy in Tommy, an adaptation of Pete Townshend’s rock opera of the same name and the lead in the first original Indian rock opera, Jaya.

Musically Nandu Bhende has followed his dream. The 70s was no time to make a career in the uncertain world of music in India, but that never deterred Nandu. He has produced a number of theatre productions, composed and sung numerous advertising jingles, composed music for several TV serials, done playback singing for some of the top music directors including, R D Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Bappi Lahiri, for Bollywood films like Disco Dancer, recorded several albums in Hindi and Marathi, set up his own music production company, his own recording studio, conducted voice workshops and wrote regular columns on music for various publications.

The rock music fraternity will solely miss him.