Pradeep Sarkar, director of Parineeta and Mardaani, passes away at 67

Veteran filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar, who made films like Parineeta and Mardaani is dead. Sarkar died in the early hours of Friday in Mumbai. He was 67. The news of his demise was shared first by filmmaker Hansal Mehta on Twitter. "Pradeep Sarkar. Dada. RIP," wrote Mehta on Twitter on Friday morning. Several prominent stars like Ajay Devgn, Manoj Bajpayee and lyricist Swanand Kirkire expressed their condolences over the news.

Sarkar was also a well-known ad-filmmaker and had also made several prominent music videos in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Shubha Mudgal's 'Ab Ke Saawan', Euphoria's 'Dhoom Pichak Dhoom' and 'Maaeri', Sultan Khan's Piya Basantiand Bhupen Hazarika's ‘Ganga’ were all directed and conceptualised by Sarkar and went on to become benchmarks of excellence in visual appeal and storytelling.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

He made his debut in Bollywood with Parineeta, the film that also launched Vidya Balan's career in Hindi films. The film was produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Helicopter Eela, Lafangey Parindey, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. His last work was a web series called Duranga which released on ZEE5 in 2022.

The unfortunate news of his death left many of his peers paying their tribute to the director.

"The news of Pradeep Sarkar’s demise, ‘Dada’ to some of us is still hard to digest. My deepest condolences 💐. My prayers are with the departed and his family. RIP Dada," wrote Ajay Devgn.

The cause of his death is not known yet and more details are awaited.