Late director Pradeep Sarkar was working on his dream project; reveals producer | Deets inside

Filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar, known for making films like Parineeta, Helicopter Eela and Mardaani, took his last breath today. He passed away aged 67 after a prolonged illness. Director Hansal Mehta confirmed the same via a tweet. Taking to Twitter on Friday morning, Hansal shared a picture of and wrote “Pradeep Sarkar. Dada. RIP. He passed away at the age at 3.30 am on March 24.

The late director was working on his dream project at the time of his death. Titled ‘Priya Interrupted’, it was to be the biopic of Priya Rajvansh, Hindi film actress and partner for over two decades of ‘Neecha Nagar’ maker Chetan Anand, who was awarded the Grand Prix (now Golden Palm) at the first-ever Cannes Film Festival in 1946. He then went on to co-found Navketan Film with his younger brother Dev Anand in 1949.

Rajvansh’s murder on March 27, 2000, sent shockwaves across Mumbai. The sons of Chetan Anand, Ketan and Vivek were convicted of committing the murder and were sentenced to life imprisonment. They were released on bail after serving their sentence for two years. The murder was the fallout of what seemed to be a dispute over Chetan Anand’s sea-facing Ruia Park bungalow in the Juhu area, where Rajvansh lived during her relationship with the director and even after his death in 1997. 

Rajvansh had acted in all of Chetan Anand’s films starting from ‘Haqeeqat’. Sarkar was expected to start shooting for ‘Priya Interrupted’ this year, according to the film’s producer, Deepak Mukul. ‘Priya Interrupted’, he said, was Sarkar’s dream project and “he had already worked out the story, set design and costumes for it”.

Pradeep made his debut in the Hindi film industry with the screen adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s ‘Parineeta’. Vidya Balan, Saif Ali Khan, and Sanjay Dutt played pivotal characters in the film. His last directorial on the big screen was ‘Helicopter Eela’ starring Kajol and Riddhi Sen in the lead roles. He has worked with Rani Mukerji in Mardaani and Vidya Balan with Parineeti. The late filmmaker has always presented women-oriented films beautifully. 

Pradeep has also directed ‘Laga Chunari Mein Daag’ starring Rani, Konkona Sen Sharma, Abhishek Bachchan, Kunal Kapoor, ‘Lafangey Parindey’ featuring Deepika Padukone and Neil Nitin Mukesh. He has directed web series namely, ‘Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala’, ‘Forbidden Love’, and ‘Arranged Marriage.’

(With inputs from IANS)

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