Veteran director Esmayeel Shroff passed away following a brief illness late on Wednesday in Mumbai. As per a report by IANS, he breathed his last at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. He was around 65.
For the unversed, the late director had helmed a bunch of hit films such as Agar, God and Gun, Ahista Ahista, Zid, Police Public, Majhdhaar, Dil Akhir Dil Hai, Bulundi, Nishchaiy, Suryaa and Jhuta Sach. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, he was earlier a graduate in sound engineering from the National Institute of Technology. However, his interest in cinema took him to Bombay where he initially worked as an assistant director.
Shroff had also launched Govinda’s career in Bollywood in 1986. Reacting to the news of his demise, Govinda said, “I’m deeply saddened. My career started with his film. Uparwala unko jannat naseeb karaye (may God place his soul in heaven). May his soul rest in peace. Not only did he give me work, but he used to have faith in me, too. He was the first person in my life who said that Govinda understands cinema. He played a big role in making me Govinda from Govind,” to ETimes.
On the other hand, Padmini Kolhapure also recalled working with the late filmmaker. While calling him a ‘very sensitive director’ with a ‘smiling face’, she told ETimes, “I did Thodisi Bewafaii and Ahista Ahista with him. Ahista Ahista is very close to my heart. He seemed strict in his demeanour but he had a smiling face. He was very sure about what he wanted and he would put it across. We got along very well as actor-director. He was a very sensitive director. It's a huge loss. He left his mark in the industry.”
Meanwhile, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit took to his Twitter handle and mourned the death of Esmayeel Shroff. In a brief tweet, he wrote, “Sad to know about the demise of ace filmmaker Esmayeel Shroff.”
While further details are awaited, team Bollywood Hungama pays sincere condolences to his family.
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