MUMBAI: The “last giant“ of the sitar, Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan, passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest at his Bandra residence at 5pm on Wednesday. The world of classical music mourned the loss of the colossus who was in the league of sitarists like Pt Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan.Khan was born in Madhya Pradesh in 1927. “He would have turned 90 in February,“ said musician Nayan Ghosh as he arrived to pay condolences to the Ustad's son Zunain, also a sitarist of repute. “Ustadji was so well read he could quote from English poets, Sanskrit and Persian literature, and from the holy scriptures of any faith. I conducted a daylong interview with him for the Sangeet Natak Akademi two months ago. He was so witty.“The pioneering sitarist collaborated with jazz pianist Dave Brubeck . He was also among the earliest sitarists to perform in Hindi cinema, thanks to patronage from composer Khurshid Anwar in 1946.He played for K L Saigal's film Parwana (1947) followed by Mughal-EAzam, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, Goonj Uthi Shehnai and Kohinoor.Music critic Amarendra Dha neshwar said, “He belonged to the Indore gharana of Beenkars. He developed his own style called Jafferkhani baaj'. Apart from that, he brought many Carnatic ragas like Latangi and Kanakangi into the Hindustani stream. His film career is also remarkable for having played jugalbandi with Bismillah Khan for `Goonj Uthi Shehnai'. Composers like Anil Biswas, Naushad, Madan Mohan , Shankar Jaikishen, C Ramchandra and Vasant Desai chose him for their films. In fact, the sitar in the entire background music of Mughal-E-Azam and Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje was played by him. Ravi Shankar acknowledged his astonishing 'taiyyari'.“Khan won the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. In 1976, he founded the Halim Academy of Sitar.