Drishyam director Nishikant Kamat no more

Hyderabad: Filmmaker Nishikant Kamat, best known for directing the thriller drama Drishyam, died on Monday after battling liver cirrhosis for two years, the AIG Hospitals here said. He was 50.  

Kamat, who had multiple organ failure, was admitted to hospital on July 31 with complaints of fever and excessive fatigue.

It was diagnosed that he was suffering from liver cirrhosis for the past two years. Initially, we started antibiotics and supportive medications upon which Mr Kamat showed improvement, but his condition soon deteriorated with progressive liver dysfunction and drowsiness, the hospital said.

The director was immediately shifted to the ICU, where his general condition gradually declined. He had also developed respiratory failure and hypotension on Sunday. His condition deteriorated, eventually leading to multiple organ failure, the hospital added.

Kamat, who also made the action film Force and the Irrfan Khan-led Madaari, died at 4.24 pm, it said.

"My equation with Nishikant was not just about Drishyam, a film which he directed with Tabu and me. It was an association that I cherished. He was bright; ever-smiling. He has gone too soon. RIP Nishikant," his Drishyam star Ajay Devgn said on Twitter.

Director Hansal Mehta wrote, "He's left us. Will miss you Nishi. This year is a nightmare that does not seem to end."

I will miss you my friend," actor Riteish Deshmukh captioned his picture with Kamat on Twitter.

Actor Randeep Hooda also mourned the untimely death of the director.

"Farewell Nishi!! You lived and died by what you decided you loved more than anything else... I'm sure you had no regrets about much.. thank you for all the movies, all the fun stories, warmth and smiles," he wrote.

Kamat started his cinema journey as an actor with 2004 feature "Hava Aney Dey", opposite Tannishtha Chatterjee and Rajshree Thakur.

He made his debut Marathi film "Dombivali Fast" a year later. The movie won the National Film Award for best Marathi film and was lauded by the critics for its depiction of a common man's fight against a corrupt system.

In 2007, Kamat made a Tamil version of the movie, titled "Evano Oruvan", with actor R Madhavan.

The filmmaker's Bollywood innings started in 2008 with "Mumbai Meri Jaan", set in the aftermath of 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts.

The movie featured Madhavan, Soha Ali Khan, Kay Kay Menon, Paresh Rawal and Irrfan Khan.

Kamat, one of the few directors to have made films in multiple languages, then directed "Force", the Hindi remake of South superstar Suriya's action movie "Kaakha Kaakha".

The 2011 movie, starring John Abraham and Genelia D'Souza, was hailed for its action sequences, including a scene in which John throws a bike on a criminal.

Ajay Devgn-starrer 2015 thriller "Dhrishyam" was the most successful film of Kamat's career. A remake of Jeethu Joseph's Malayalam feature of the same name, the movie's many twists and turns kept the audiences hooked till the climax.

He followed it up with "Rocky Handsome" that reunited him with Abraham. The movie performed averagely at the box office.

The same year, he teamed up with Irrfan for "Madaari". Irrfan, who died in April this year, played a common man who seeks accountability from the political system in the aftermath of a tragedy.

Acting took a back seat for Kamat as he established himself as a reliable director, but in recent years, he featured in films such as "Daddy" (2017) and Vikramaditya Motwane's "Bhavesh Joshi Superhero".