Mahua Lahiri, director of music label Asha Audio, is dead

Mahua Lahiri, the director of Asha Audio, died yesterday. Lahiri, a pillar of the Bengali music industry, was suffering from pneumonia for the past few days. Many of her well-wishers, including actress Rituparna Sengupta, who also posted about Lahiri's requirement of blood, had hoped that she would recover soon; however, that was not to be.

Lahiri leaves behind a daughter, aged 26.

Known for backing original Bengali music for years, Lahiri was loved and revered by both senior and junior artistes. She stood with artistes like Lopamudra Mitra, Srikanto Acharya and Subhamita Banerjee when the market for music albums began sliding and began releasing digital audio. She also helped many new artistes to emerge.

Lahiri also worked with artistes outside Bengal, like Kavita Krishnamurthy, and recorded Bengali songs with them.

Condolences began poured in on social media platforms, with artistes recalling her determination to work for Bengali music and mourning the loss.