TNI Bureau: Noted cinematographer of Bollywood Ashok Mehta passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday at the age of 65. He was suffering from lung cancer and admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in suburban Andheri.
Ashok had many prominent films to his credit, including Shah Rukh-Rani Mukherjee starrer ‘Chalte Chalte’ (2003), Subhash Ghai directed ‘Ram Lakhan’ and ‘Khalnaayak’, Shekhar Kapoor’s ‘Bandit Queen’, Shyam Benegal’s ‘Mandi’, M F Hussain’s ‘Gaja Gamini’ and comedy film ‘No Entry’.
Besides cinematography Mehta also directed, written and produced ‘Moksha: Salvation’ in 2001 starring Arjun Rampal and Manisha Koirala. Even he acted in two films ‘Dil tera Aashiq’ and ‘Izzazat’. Actor Arjun Rampal was among the first from Bollywood to monitor progress of ailing Mehta when he was at the hospital. He is reportedly planning to make a documentary on Mehta.
Bollywood biggies expressed their grief over the demise of Mehta.
Director Madhur Bhandarkar said, “Sad to hear about demise of the Cinematographer Ashok Mehta who changed the vision of Indian Cinema. RIP!”
Shekhar Kapoor tweeted, “Bye Ashoki, Friend Guru India’s Greatest DOP. Sorry we never worked after Bandit Queen. Thank you for teaching me to be fearless in cinema.”