Her husband was facing repeated mental harassment in connection with the loans his company had taken and he committed suicide because of it, the complaint alleged. Desai, who had worked for acclaimed Bollywood films such as “Lagaan” and “Jodhaa Akbar”, allegedly hanged himself at his studio at Karjat in Raigad district on Wednesday.
His company had defaulted on a Rs 252 crore loan repayment to creditors and the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had initiated insolvency proceedings against it. Desai’s company ND’s Art World Pvt Ltd had borrowed Rs 185 crore through two loans from ECL Finance in 2016 and 2018, and troubles with repayments started from January 2020. ECL Finance is a non-banking finance arm of the Edelweiss Group.
The art director who had designed the sets of films such as ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ and the popular TV quiz show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ was found dead on the premises of his N D Studios at Karjat in Raigad district on Wednesday morning. The autopsy report said that death was due to hanging, said Somnath Gharge, Raigad superintendent of police.