Madhur Bhandarkar on Nitin Desai’s death: He hosted lavish wedding party at the studio three months back

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar talks about his memories of working with art director Nitin Desai, who was found dead at a studio in Raigad earlier today

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar is in shocked to hear about art director Nitin Desai’s alleged suicide amid his financial struggles. Unable to wrap his head around the unfortunate incident, Bhardarkar reveals that Desai hosted a lavish wedding party for his daughter just three months back.

Madhur Bhandarkar worked with Nitin Desai on four films --Traffic Signal, Fashion, Jail and Indu Sarkar

“I last worked with him on Indu Sarkar in 2017, and then pandemic also got in between. But we stayed in touch. We used to talk to each other often over a call or messages. In fact, I met him just three months back with Ashutosh Gowariker,” Bhandarkar tells us, sharing that they even connected after the release of Babli Bouncer (2022), and made plans to collaborate again.

According to the police, Desai, a four-time National Award winner, was found hanging in his ND studio in Karjat on Wednesday.

The 54-year adds, “We all met him when his daughter got married. It was a lavish wedding at the studio itself with over 1000 guests in attendance. I can’t fathom the fact that he is no more. He was an extrovert and friendly person, who made his mark in different industries from Hindi to Marathi.”

The filmmaker, who has worked with Desai on four films —Traffic Signal (2007), Fashion (2008), Jail (2009) and Indu Sarkar (2017) — further reveals that Traffic Signal was one of the first films to be shot at ND Studio.

“At that time, I told him that I don’t have a huge budget for it, and he assured me and made a set. He was also working on Jodhaa Akbar (2008) at that time. That was the contrast he used to work on. He was the one who created the jhopdis of Traffic Signal, and the lavish ramp for Fashion,” he shares, adding, “I never saw him tense or depressed. He used to take stress about his work, but nothing like that. I never thought that he would take this step. It has been really unfortunate.”

Mourning the loss, Bhandarkar concludes, “He was a game changer when it came to art. He worked with all the top filmmakers, and brought such diversity to the craft. It has been a huge loss.”