His wife Neha and their three children – a son and two daughters – will be present for the final rites.
While no suicide note was found from the spot, Nitin Chandrakant Desai had left behind a video recording. A source from the studio had told ETimes, “At night, on the sets of Marathi Pavool Padte Pudhe, Studio number 10, he drew a bow and arrow with sutali (rassi), he placed a ladder on the bow and arrow, and hung himself. In the recording, Desai mentioned not to take his ND Studios away from him. He also mentioned that his last rites be performed at Studio no 10.”
Nitin Chandrakant Desai’s body was found handing at his studio in Karjat, the autopsy had confirmed ‘death by handing’. Those close to the art director had revealed that he was under financial stress. He had defaulted on a Rs 252-crore loan and a bankruptcy court had admitted an insolvency petition against his company last week. The financial creditor had reportedly approached district authorities in Raigad to take possession of ND Studio a few months ago.
In a career spanning decades, Nitin Chandrakant Desai had created the palatial sets of iconic Bollywood movies like ‘Devdas’, ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam ‘, ‘Munnabhai M.B.B.S.’ and ‘Panipat’.