- The entertainment industry is mourning the demise of four-time national award-winning art director Nitin Desai (57). He was found dead in his ND studio in Raigad district.
- Nitin Desai’s post-mortem reports reveal that the cause of death is due to hanging.
- Police found some audio notes in a voice recorder and they are being examined with the help of cyber forensic experts.
- 11 audio clips recorded by Nitin Desai; the first sentence recorded in Desai’s sound recorder was ‘Laalbagh ke Raja ko mera antim pranam.’
- Maharashtra MLA Mahesh Baldi said “He was under financial stress, which may have driven him to end his life,”
- He was famed for his work in movies like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (2000), Lagaan (2002), Devdas (2003), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015).
- He had won three Filmfare Awards for Best Art Direction and four National Film Awards for Best Art Direction.
The entertainment industry is mourning the demise of four-time national award-winning art director Nitin Desai. He was found dead in his ND studio in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Wednesday. According to police, Desai’s body was found hanging in the Studio in Karjat. He was known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He worked with directors like Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
As per officials, he died by suicide. He was 57. The postmortem reports reveal that the cause of death is due to hanging, as per Raigad police. A team of four doctors conducted it. The staff claimed that Desai reached Mumbai airport from Delhi on Tuesday midnight. He reached ND Studio in Karjat around 2.30 am. He breathed his last around 4 am.
While there are no reports of foul play, it has been learned that police found a recorded voice message left by Desai in which he is understood to have mentioned four persons. Police found some audio notes in a voice recorder and they are being examined with the help of cyber forensic experts. Nitin Desai, who came to the studio after Tuesday midnight, had asked one of his employees to visit the facility in the morning to collect the voice recorder. The employee, a local resident, and a friend came to the studio on Wednesday morning (August 2) and went to the place mentioned in the voice recorder where he found Desai hanging, he said.
According to the sources, “The employee later handed over the voice recorder to police, said the official. The noted art director was found hanging at the center stage of a mega floor inside the studio, a prominent place where most of the shows were conducted. An eyewitness told reporters at the site that at the center stage of the mega floor, he saw a bow and arrow made with the help of a rope. Desai was found hanging with the rope on the center stage, where the set of the talent show ‘Marathi Paul Padte Pudhe’ was also created.”
However, the Khalapur police refused to share the details as it was given for forensic investigation. Desai was debt-ridden and even the financer had reportedly approached the district administration for the attachment of the studio.
Maharashtra MLA Mahesh Baldi said the celebrated art director behind ‘Lagaan’ was under financial strain. Desai was frustrated as some vested interests in Bollywood were reportedly discouraging producers from hiring his studio, claimed Jitendra Patil, a local leader of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena while speaking to the media.
The last rites of Desai will take place on August 4 at ND Studio.
He was famed for his work in movies like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (2000), Lagaan (2002), Devdas (2003), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015). He had won three Filmfare Awards for Best Art Direction and four National Film Awards for Best Art Direction.
The art director used to stay in a bungalow inside the sprawling studio.
(With inputs from agencies)
