Bollywood art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai was found hanging on Wednesday (August 2) at his ND studio in Karjat, near Mumbai. He was 57. Police officers said prima facie, it looks like a case of death by suicide and investigation is currently underway.
Nitin Desai, a four-time National Award winner, is best known for his work in films like, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Lagaan, Devdas, Jodhaa Akbar and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo among others.
Earlier today, Maharashtra MLA and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mahesh Baldi, told a news portal that Nitin Desai was under financial stress which led to him taking his life.
When Nitin Desai was accused of cheating an ad agency
In May 2018, an advertising agency had reportedly filed a case of cheating against Nitin Desai, for allegedly not paying fees of nearly Rs 51.7 lakh for three months of work.
A case was filed against Nitin Desai by the owner of Vihang Digital World, Rakesh Shinde, at Vartak Nagar police station.
According to media reports, Rakesh Shinde and Nitin Desai met in 2017 through a local MLA. Nitin Desai had hired Shinde’s agency to do ads for theme park and Bollywood garden in Thane.
In his complaint, Rakesh Shinde had also alleged that he was given private bank cheques that bounced, as well as cheques of closed bank accounts. However, at that time, Nitin Desai refuted Shinde’s allegations and had said that the complainant had made 'false allegations' earlier too.
Dev Kate, the owner of another advertising agency, had also alleged that Nitin Desai had not paid him Rs 1 crore for work done.
