MUMBAI: A string of Bollywood personalities including names such as Kareena Kapoor Khan, Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and Hansal Mehta have mourned the death of Indian journalist turned director Pritish Nandy, who died aged 73 on January 8.
Kareena, who starred in the 2004 film “Chameli”, produced by Pritish and daughter Rangita's Pritish Nandy Communications, took to her Instagram stories and shared pictures from the sets to pay a tribute to her producer.
A photograph had Kareena having a conversation with Pritish between shots. She captioned it with a red heart, folded hands, and infinity emojis with the pictures.
“Chameli” director Sudhir Mishra took to his X, formerly called Twitter, account and wrote: “Pritish Nandy changed my life . Only he could Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi . He taught me so much . I am so sorry Pritish Da . I couldn’t come up with an idea for the sequel .”
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta penned a note for Pritish on X, which read: “Sad, sad news. My most personal work has lost one of its greatest patrons. You lived well Mr Nandy. Will miss you terribly. Deepest condolences to the entire family.”
Sharing a monochrome picture of Pritish, actor Anil Kapoor said that he was shocked on learning about his dear friend’s passing.
Anil wrote: “Shocked and heartbroken by the loss of my dear friend Pritish Nandy. A fearless editor, a brave soul, and a man of his word, he embodied integrity like no other.”
Actor Sanjay Dutt, who featured in Pritish Nandy-produced “Kaante”, a 2002 thriller and 2005’s “Shabd” wrote on X, penned: “A true creative genius and a kind soul, you will be missed sir. #PritishNandy.”
It was on January 8 evening, when veteran actor Anupam Kher confirmed the news of Nandy’s death due to cardiac arrest.
The actor took to his X, and shared a note in memory of the late director. He shared two monochromatic images of the late director from decades apart.
Anupam wrote, “Deeply deeply saddened and shocked to know about the demise of one of my dearest and closest friends #PritishNandy! Amazing poet, writer, filmmaker and a brave and unique editor/journalist. He was my support system and a great source of strength in my initial days in Mumbai”.
He further mentioned, “We shared lots of things in common. He was also one of the most fearless people I had come across. Always Larger than life. I learnt so many things from him. Off-late we didn’t meet often. But there was a time when we were inseparable! I will never forget when he surprised me by putting me on the cover of a magazine and more importantly #TheIllustratedWeelky. He was the true definition of यारों का यार! I will miss you and our times together my friend. Rest well. #HeartBroken”.
Pritish Nandy, who was born in Bhagalpur in the state of Bihar to a Bengali family, identified as an agnostic.
He was a multi-faceted personality as he was also a painter, a poet, and a producer. He also served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, representing Maharashtra. He was elected as part of the then-united Shiv Sena.