According to police sources, Nitin Desai hanged himself at his studio
Pic/Nitin Desai's official Instagram account
Renowned art director Nitin Desai allegedly committed suicide at his own ND Studio in Karjat on Wednesday morning. According to police sources, Desai hanged himself at his studio. Khalapur cops are investigating the matter. He was 58.
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Desai is known for his magnum opus sets in the films. On Wednesday morning, when he didn’t respond to the house help, his associates broke the door and found him hanging. His associates informed the police immediately.
After being alerted, police rushed to the spot. A probe was underway into Desai's death from all angles, the official said.
"At 9 am we received information that Nitin Desai had hanged himself at his residence located inside the ND Studio. We have called forensic experts, cyber forensic experts, fingerprint experts and dog squad. We are in the process of registering an Accidental Death Report at Khalapur police station," said Somnath Gharge, SP of Raigad police.
Desai, who was in his late 50s, served as art director and production designer for a number of Bollywood and Marathi movies.
He was also known for his art work in films such as "Jodhaa Akbar" and "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo".
The art director's death sent shock waves across the industry with film personalities such as Hema Malini, Riteish Deshmukh, Siddhartha Basu, and Neil Nitin Mukesh mourning Desai's passing.
Actor-politician Hema Malini said Desai's death was a "terrible loss" to the film industry.
"Such a warm human being, associated with many of my projects and ballets... May he find peace wherever he is," she tweeted.
Neil said it is difficult to accept the heartbreaking news of Desai's death. The late art director worked on "Jail", the 2009 film starring the actor.
"Our beloved #nitindesai has left for his heavenly abode. He was simply a genius. A visionary artist with grace, style who understood not just his craft but people. He was a positive soul who spread only love to all. My God give his family strength. Om Shanti," he wrote on the microblogging site.
Basu, who worked with Desai on popular reality shows such as "Kaun Banega Crorepati" and "Dus Ka Dum", said he was shocked to hear about the passing of his "friend and artistic collaborator".
"He made sets for so many of our shows - KBC, Kamzor Kadi, Heartbeat, Bluffmaster, Dus ka Dum, Sach ka Saamna.. Conjuring world class installations on an industrial scale. Om shanti," Basu wrote on Twitter, which was recently rebranded as X.
In his career spanning over 30 years, Desai closely worked with directors like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani, and Ashutosh Gowariker.