Famous art director Nitin Desai was found dead in his ND Studio in Karjat. As per media reports, Desai died by suicide. The news of his untimely demise has sent shockwaves across the nation. Local MLA from Karjat, Mahesh Baldi BJP confirmed that Nitin Desai died by suicide due to the financial crisis. He said, "Nitin Desai's ND studio comes in my constituency, the financial crisis was going on for many days and due to that, he committed suicide in ND studio this morning." Meanwhile, Somnath Gharge, Superintendent of Police, Raigad, said, "We are investigating from all angles." According to a Hindustan Times report, esai, who was found dead on Wednesday at his studio in Maharashtra's Raigad district, had defaulted on a ₹252-crore loan to its financial creditor, and a bankruptcy court had admitted an insolvency petition against his company last week. Desai's company, ND's Art World Pvt Ltd, had borrowed ₹185 crore through two loans from ECL Finance in 2016 and 2018, and troubles with repayments started from January 2020.
BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde, who was a close friend of Nitin Desai said to Hindustan Times, "I used to often speak and counsel him. I had told him on how Amitabh Bachchan had faced immense losses and come back in life again. We had told him that even if the studio was attached due to loans, he could start afresh. It's very sad to hear about his death. I spoke to him day before." His company ND's Art World is engaged in the business of organizing, maintaining, operating replicas of historical monuments and providing facilities and services related to hotels, theme restaurants, shopping malls and recreation centres. On July 25, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had admitted a petition filed by Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company to initiate a corporate insolvency resolution process. Nitin Desai was known for his art work in films such as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Lagaan, Jodhaa Akbar and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. In his career spanning over 30 years, Desai closely worked with directors like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani, and Ashutosh Gowariker. Some of his notable works include Fashion, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, and Bajirao Mastani, among others. His last project as an art director was with Ashutosh Gowarikar on the 2019 film Panipat. For his work, he was honoured by the prestigious Art Directors’ Guild Film Society and American Cinematheque in Hollywood.