Noted Art Director Nitin Desai, Found Dead At Home

Renowned art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai was discovered deceased at his studio in Raigad, Maharashtra. Prior to his passing, he was facing financial challenges and had difficulty repaying a substantial ₹252-crore loan. Recently, a bankruptcy court had accepted an insolvency petition against his company.

Nitin Desai’s company, ND’s Art World Pvt Ltd, had reportedly borrowed ₹ 185 crore through two loans. The loan has been borrowed from ECL Finance in 2016 and 2018. His financial troubles began in January 2020.

Nitin Desai’s body was found at the ND Studio premises this morning. The police suspect he died by suicide.

The noted art director, known for projects like Lagaan and Devdas, had opened the sprawling studio in the Khalapur taluka on the outskirts of Mumbai, where films like Jodha Akbar were shot.

Art Director Company, ND’s Art World,

His company ND’s Art World is also in the business of organising, maintaining, and operating replicas of historical monuments. Also provides facilities and services related to hotels, theme restaurants, shopping malls and recreation centres.

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.

The tribunal’s Member (judicial) HV Subba Rao and member (technical) Anu Jagmohan Singh, after hearing both the sides, had appointed Jitender Kothari as the interim resolution professional.

The management of ND’s Art World would be with Kothari during the process, the order had said.

Accordingly, the insolvency professional has to ensure that all the creditors get their dues by selling securities. It has to take care of day-to-day business operations.

The order said that the account was classified as a non-performing asset (NPA) by the creditors. It was classified on March 31, 2021. The total default amount was ₹ 252.48 crore as of June 30, 2022.

In its reply before the order, Nitin Desai’s company had said there was a fire at the studio on May 7, 2021, which resulted in loss of property, and blamed the creditors for sending a recovery notice on the same day.

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