Celebrated Bollywood Art Director Nitin Desai Dies By Suicide

Mumbai: Celebrated art director and producer, Nitin Chandrakant Desai was found hanging at his studio in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Wednesday.

According to reports, the filmmaker allegedly committed suicide at his studio located in Karjat, 80 km away from Mumbai. Financial crisis and debt are being speculated as the possible reasons.

“Today morning, Shri Nitin Desai’s body was found hanging in ND Studios. We are investigating all angles,” Raigad SP Somnath Gharge said in a statement.

Desai made his Bollywood debut as an art director with the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and went on to work with seasoned filmmakers like Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, creating sets of iconic Bollywood films Lagaan (2001), Devdas (2002), Swades (2004), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010), among others. He had also created the sets for the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

His last venture as an art director was Ashutosh Gowariker’s war epic drama Panipat, which released in 2019.

He won National Film Award for Best Art Direction four times (Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Lagaan, Devdas and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) and the Filmfare Best Art Direction Award three times (Devdas, Khamoshi, 1942: A Love Story). In 2016, he was conferred with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India.

In 2005, Nitin Desai established the famous ND studios at Karjat, where numerous moves like Jodha Akbar, Traffic Signal and reality show Big Boss were shot.