Pritish Nandy passes away; Anupam Kher remembers his friend

Veteran journalist, poet and filmmaker Pritish Nandy passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday, sources close to him said.

Nandy (73) died after a cardiac arrest at his home in south Mumbai and his last rites were performed in the evening, they said.

In a social media post, veteran actor and Nandy’s friend Anupam Kher paid glowing tributes to him.

“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!” Kher wrote.

“He was my support system and a great source of strength in my initial days in Mumbai. 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 much. But there was a time when we were inseparable! I will never forget when he surprised me by putting me on the cover of Filmfare and more importantly The Illustrated Weekly,” Kher added.

Nandy was a former Rajya Sabha member of the Shiv Sena and also an animal rights advocate.

His company, Pritish Nandy Communications, made films like ‘Sur’, ‘Kaante’, ‘Jhankaar Beats’, ‘Chameli’, ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’, and ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’ and also produced the web series ‘Four More Shots Please!’

Nandy wrote around 40 books of poetry in English and translated poems from Bengali, Urdu and Punjabi into English.