Nitin Chandrakant Desai's untimely demise put the limelight on the financial struggle he had to go through. In a statement to the media, his daughter Mansi said his intention was to never cheat anyone and had been working towards clearing payments
Nitin Desai. Pic/Google
Veteran art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai's untimely demise brought forth details of him going through a major financial crisis. He died by suicide at the age of 57. His body was found at his ND Studios in Karjat, Maharashtra. Known for designing sets for Hindi films and TV shows, his unfortunate demise sent shockwaves across the fraternity.
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Reports claimed that he was trapped in debt and had to mortgage land and properties to repay the loans he had taken. Now, in a statement to the media, Nitin's daughter Mansi broke her silence on reports and said her father had no intentions to cheat anyone.
Mansi said in her statement, "My father had no intention to cheat anyone and he was going to make all the payments that he promised. Due to the pandemic, there was no work and the studio was closed. And due to this, he was not able to make his regular payments."
Reacting to reports of the loan amount, Mansi shared, "The loan amount was Rs 181 crore, and we already made a payment of Rs 86.31 crore. We made all the payments in Feb 2020. Then they also wanted a six-month interest which my father paid by selling his office in Powai. He had no intention to fraud anyone and he was going to make all payments that he had promised."
She further requested, "the media to stop making defamatory statements against him and stop spreading false information. Please consult us before releasing any information."
In his illustrious career, Nitin worked with Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali to create gorgeous and lavish sets. In 2002, he launched his own production house called Chandrakant Productions and produced the devotional film titled Desh Devi. ND Studios was established in 2005. The lavish property in Karjat had sets of Jodha Akbar, Traffic Signal, Bajirao Mastani, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and even Salman Khan's Bigg Boss.
He passed away on August 2 at around 4.30 am. He was cremated at ND Studios on August 4. Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowariker paid their last respects to the veteran art director.
(Inputs from ANI)