Tollywood Fondly Remembers Nitin Chandrakant Desai Who Died by Suicide in Karjat
Renowned Bollywood art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai died by suicide on Wednesday morning sending shock waves in the film industry. His body was found hanging with a rope in the morning at the ND Studio, said Raigad Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge.
Desai was a four-time national award winner for best art direction. He has designed lavish sets for some blockbusters like ‘Devdas,’ ‘Lagaan’ ‘Jodha Akbar’ and ‘Bajirao Mastani’ to carve a niche for himself in Bollywood. In his career spanning over two decades, Desai has worked with renowned filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Ashutosh Gowarikar and Raj Kumar Hirani.
Reacting to his sudden demise, noted cinematographer-turned-director Teja says, “Firstly, he was a nice human being and the news of his death has come as a rude shock for the film industry.” Teja happened to work with Desai in the Bollywood film ‘Baazi’. “I was the cinematographer of the movie and he was the art director. We had some good times together. He is very quick in executing set work and adept in making changes, if necessary, without disturbing the schedules. He was a trail-blazer of sorts,” he adds.
No doubt, he was a trendsetter since he was the first art director to set up a studio in 50-odd acres near Karjat in Maharashtra. “No doubt, he is a pioneer in establishing a studio since few art directors could do it,” says reputed Tollywood art director Anand Sai. “He was close to my father and art director B Chellam and they had a good time together. I just happened to meet him for a few minutes at Ramoji Film City and I cherish those moments,” he informs. He describes him as a great visionary and also master of opulent sets. “Nitin Desai has brought back the period with his sets in “Jodha Akbar’ and ‘Devdas’ and his vision is unmatched. Even in erecting realistic sets in ‘Lagaan’ he showcased his expertise as they looked real and authentic. Nitin Desai has become a household name in Bollywood and beyond with his eloquent and imaginary work,” says Anand Sai and adds, “Desai’s only connect to Hyderabad was when he visited the City of Nawabs to erect sets for Hindi films in Padmalaya studios, during the time when Telugu films were remade in Hindi with Jeetendra and others,” he points out.
As the chairman of Telugu Cine Art Directors’ Association, Anand Sai, says “It is a great loss to the entire film industry and we express our deepest condolences to his family members on behalf of our association.”