Lara Dutta mourns mentor Pradeep Guha's death, Dia Mirza recalls how he calmed her ahead of Miss Asia Pacific 2000

Pradeep Guha died on Saturday after battling cancer. Actors Lara Dutta, Dia Mirza, Manoj Bajpayee among others condoled his death.

Film producer Pradeep Guha died on Saturday weeks after being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, according to a report. Actors Lara Dutta and Dia Mirza condoled his death. Pradeep was one of the mentors of the beauty pageant contestants for the year 2000.

Pradeep Guha died after fighting cancer.

According to a leading daily, Pradeep Guha was critically ill and was put on a ventilator on Friday. He was admitted to the ICU of Mumbai's Kokilaben Ambani Hospital.

Taking to Instagram, Dia shared an earthen lamp picture and penned a note recalling an incident when she was travelling for the Miss Asia Pacific contest. She captioned the post, "Our Dearest PG @guhapradeep as we so lovingly called him. A formidable force has left us… i think back to the courage he consistently gave me over the 21 years i’ve known him. A man who truly empowered us."

She continued, "I will never forget that car ride as you dropped me off to the airport as i left the country to represent India at the Miss Asia Pacific. “What if i lose?” I had asked you and you said “It will be their loss. You are a winner.” Those words were everything. They gave the 18 year old me so much strength."

Dia also wrote, "And over the years you stood by me. Through good times and bad. Always offering your wisdom. We will always work hard to make you proud PG May you find peace and create magic wherever you are… Your legacy is the tremendous love and respect you helped so many individuals earn and the incredible faith you had in individual potential. Thank you for making each of us believe in ourselves. Papia Ma and Sanket we send you our prayers, love and strength. We are with you always."

Lara sharing a picture of a candle wrote, "My dearest PG @guhapradeep you were always the KING who was the most successful ‘Queen maker’. May we, your protégés always keep your memory alive and shining bright and may you always watch over us as you have always done. #RIP."

Actor Manoj Bajpayee, who was one of the first celebs to condole Pradeep's death, tweeted, "Deeply shocked and saddened to hear about my friend @guhapradeep‘s passing away !! May you rest in peace Pradeep."

Several other celebs also mourned his death:

Shekhar Kapur condoled his death.

Riteish Deshmukh also condoled his death.

Pradeep is survived by his wife Papia and son Sanket. He also produced Fiza starring Hrithik Roshan and Karisma Kapoor.