The legendary music arranger and composer, who was the inspiration behind the track My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves, passed away on Wednesday at the Goa Medical College and Hospital. The 84-year old was undergoing treatment for pneumonia

Not many would know that when Laxmikant-Pyarelal were composing the music for Manmohan Desai's super hit Amar Akbar Anthony, it was Pyarelal who suggested to Desai that Amitabh Bachchan's character be renamed from Anthony Fernandes to Anthony Gonsalves. It was his tribute to his real-life guru, Anthony Gonsalves. Of course, the song went on to become a household name as we all still remember.

The real Anthony Gonsalves started off as an obscure violinist with renowned music composer Naushad's group in 1943, moving on to work with greats like Anil Biswas, Gulam Haidar, Shyam Sundar, Sachin Dev Burman, R D Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal among others. He is remembered for his musical arrangements in Mahal, Naya Daur, Dillagi and Pyaasa to name a few films.

Gonsalves is also credited with founding an Indian symphony orchestra featuring Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey as soloists. In 2010, a 58-minute film was screened at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in his honour. Gonsalves' last rites were held on Thursday, January 19, 2012, at his ancestral village Majorda in South Goa. He is survived by his daughter Lakshmi, a painter by profession.

Music composer Pyarelal: He was my guru and a music saint. He wasn't keeping well for the last three years. I used to visit him at Majorda, where he was staying with his daughter Lakshmi. He was my guru and a music saint.

When I was 14 year old, I went to him and told him I wanted to learn music from him even though my father was also a musician. I learnt Indian and western classical instruments from him for many years but he never took any fees from me. He was truly an artist who lived for art's sake. He worked with most of the legendary music directors of Indian cinema; he arranged music for nearly 400 movies and 2000 songs between 1943 and 1965 .

When Laxmikant and I were working on Amar Akbar Anthony in 1977, I suggested to Manmohan Desai to change the name of Amitabh Bachchan's character to Anthony Gonsalves. I wanted to pay a tribute to him with the song. I owe him a lot. He was my guru and guide and I was lucky I got a chance to learn from him.