Close associates suspect Nitin Desai was 'planning' his suicide in the past few days

After a preliminary report of the autopsy conducted at Mumbairsquos Sir J J Hospital late Wednesday confirmed Art Director Nitin Chandrakant Desairsquos cause of death lsquoby hangingrsquo his associates and close friends are nagged by doubts that he may have actually lsquoplannedrsquo his suicide in the past few daysThe detailed report of the autopsy conducted by a team of four medicos is likely to be made available laterA close family friend of Desai said that he got a panic call from security personnel about the shocking development around 9 am on August 2ldquoI immediately rushed to the N D Art World Pvt Ltd studio premises From a window we saw Desairsquos body hanging by a rope from the ceiling at a considerable height on a huge stage which is used for shooting purposesrdquo said the friend declining to be identifiedFor a few moments the friend contemplated breaking inside to untie and save Desai but he first called the police which advised him against any such rash actionldquoEven a doctor I had summoned reached by then and he also felt that since this could be a homicide not to touch anything till the police teams reached thererdquo he addedAnother associate Babu More who landed there soon afterwards claimed that a couple of days earlier Desai had left behind a lsquorecorded suicide messagersquo in which he has named certain persons who may have allegedly abetted his suicideHowever despite repeated attempts Raigad Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge remained unavailable for his comments in the sensitive matterDesai had reportedly told an aide to come lsquothe next morning and look for the recorded messagersquo and then hand it over to the concerned persons according to MoreThough the Raigad Police have kept mum on the recorded message the studio staffers are hoping that it may be probed to unravel the real motives behind Desairsquos extreme stepThe Raigad Police have initiated an investigation from multiple angles including financial external or business pressures and other aspects of Desairsquos suicide on WednesdayDesais last rites shall be performed at the studio premises on Friday Aug 4 as desired by him after his son and two daughters reach here from the USldquoThe financial troubles had started in late2019 and early 2020 and the situation became terrible after the Covid19 pandemic lockdowns that paralysed shootings here and the situation has not normalised even nowrdquo rued the friendTroubled over the repayment issues of his massive loan of Rs 181crore which had accumulated to over Rs 250crore Desai reportedly struggled to make ends meet particularly on the professional front and the studioldquoThe iconic studio is wellknown in Raigad and situated in a picturesque areahellip Around 400500 tourists troop down to the premises daily they pay a small entry fee and are taken on a tour in buses as is the case with most famous studios worldwiderdquo said the friendThis generated sufficient revenues to pay all the rentals bills and salaries of around 75odd staffers as Desai shuttled between his home in Powai Mumbai and the Raigad studio and occasionally his birthplace at Dapoli RatnagiriMore and others dismissed speculative theories that Desai was apparently toying with the idea of shutting down a part of the studio or commercially exploiting the rest to generate revenues claiming ldquohe was absolutely passionate about the studio he set up in 2005rdquoNow Desai has left behind an impressive artistic legacy a huge virtually unutilised asset which is already being coveted in some quarters and an uncertain future for the 75odd staffers at the studioThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever