Late Nitin Chandrakant Desai defaulted on `252 cr loan
Noted art director was found dead, and a bankruptcy court had admitted an insolvency petition against his company last week

Mumbai Noted art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai, who was found dead on Wednesday at his studio in Maharashtra's Raigad district, had defaulted on a Rs 252-crore loan to its financial creditor, and a bankruptcy court had admitted an insolvency petition against his company last week. 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. Desai's body was found at the ND Studio premises on Wednesday morning, and he is suspected to have committed suicide. The exact reasons which led him to the extreme step are not known. The noted art director, known for projects like Lagaan and Devdas, had opened this sprawling studio in the Khalapur taluka on the outskirts of the financial capital where films like Jodha Akbar were shot.
His company ND's Art World is engaged in the business of organising, maintaining, operating replicas of historical monuments and providing facilities and services related to hotels, theme restaurants, shopping malls and recreation centres. On July 25, 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.