Film patrons on Wednesday morning woke up to the distressing news of the death of noted art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai. He was found dead at his ND Studio in Karjat in the morning. Although not many details about what caused his death have come to the fore, prima facie it appears to be suicide.
Nitin Desai as apparently taken his life on the premises of the same studio that he started his career with. ND Studio has been in controversy for the past few months. It has been reported said that confiscation proceedings were ordered against the studio. Nitin Desai established ND Studios in 2003 in Karjat, a town close to Mumbai. His studio is situated on 43 acres of ground. The studio contains a massive dinosaur floor that is 25,000 feet long, a props room and large locations including royal palaces, forts, cities and villages. This magnificent set by Desai is said to be India’s first theme park.
Established in 2003, ND Studio recently completed 20 years. Apart from films, the popular reality show Bigg Boss, hosted by Salman Kha,n is also filmed here. Apart from providing a great location for film shoots, it has also become a tourist location as it is just a 90-minute drive from Mumbai. In 2008, US-based movie studio 20th Century Fox signed a 10-year deal to hire four floors at ND Studio. It was reported to be shut down for some months now although the reason has not been clear.
Nitin Desai is a four-time winner of the National Award for Best Art Direction. Over the course of his two decades in Bollywood, he collaborated with renowned filmmakers like Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Jodha Akbar, Lagaan, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai and Bajirao Mastani are just a few of his well-known productions. With Ashutosh Gowarikar, he worked on the 2019 film Panipat, which was his final project as an art director. He received honours for his work from the illustrious American Cinematheque and Art Directors’ Guild Film Society in Hollywood.
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