Nitin Chandrakant Desai

Nitin Chandrakant Desai was an Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer. He was most known for his work in Marathi and Hindi Films, World Cultural Festival 2016 at Delhi and films like, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Lagaan (2001), Devdas (2002), Jodhaa Akbar (2008) and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015). During his career spanning twenty years, he worked with directors like Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. [1] [2] In 2002, he turned film producer with Chandrakant Productions' Desh Devi, a devotional film on the Devi Mata of Kutch. [3] Desai won National Film Award for Best Art Direction four times, and Filmfare Best Art Direction Award three times. In 2005, he opened his ND Studios spread over 52 acres (21 ha) at Karjat, Navi Mumbai, near Mumbai, which has since hosted films like Jodhaa Akbar, Traffic Signal as also Color's reality show Big Boss. [4] [5] Desai was born in Mulund, Bombay, Maharashtra on 9 August 1965. [6] He attended school at Wamanrao Muranjan High School, Mulund in a Marathi Medium. He studied photography at the J.J. School of Art and L.S.Raheja school of arts, in Mumbai, before joining the films. [7] [8] Desai first went to Mumbai's Film City Studios in May 1987, and immediately switched from the 2-D format of still photography to a 3-D world of art direction. [citation needed] He joined noted art director, Nitish Roy as a fourth assistant for the period TV serial, Tamas (1987), directed by Govind Nihalani. Thereafter he worked TV series, Kabir for five-and-a-half years, series Chanakya for the first 25 episodes, and took over independently from the 26th episode onwards. [citation needed] His first feature film was Adhikari Brothers's Bhookamp in 1993, but it was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's period film, 1942: A Love Story in 1994 that got him noticed. [7] Over the years he has worked in films such as Parinda, Khamoshi, Maachis, Baadshah, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Raju Chacha, international projects like Salaam Bombay!, Amok (a French film directed by Joel Farges, which won Desai a Pri Genie nomination), Jungle Book, Kama Sutra, the Canadian film Such a Long Journey and Holy Smoke. He also created two sets for Slumdog Millionaire 2008 film, which include the set of Kaun Banega Crorepati scene, incidentally he had also designed the set for the Star Plus TV series, and an interiors set of the Taj Mahal. [9] [10] Desai was found dead in his studio in Maharashtra's Raigad district, police said on 2 August 2023. According to police Desai's body was found hanging in his ND Studio in Karjat, some 80 km outside Mumbai. [11] He left behind no suicide note, but a video recording in which he criticised a financial services firm for his company's financial troubles. [12] He also named four people in his voice notes who he blamed for his situation. [13] He expressed his wish to have his last rites performed at his studio. [14] He is survived by his wife Naina and two children, a son named Siddhant and a daughter named Mansi. [15]