Journalist-turned-filmmaker Pritish Nandy passed away at 73, his son Kushan confirmed to mid-day on Wednesday night. Nandy championed unconventional stories and backed new voices of directors and writers in the Hindi film industry. One of his productions was the Sanjay Dutt-starrer, Kaante (2002), helmed by Sanjay Gupta.

“I am not in India currently, and read the news on social media. I am completely shocked by how suddenly this has happened. I am saddened. Pritish was a great collaborator and made Kaante possible. He was the first producer who said ‘yes’ to the film in the first 10 minutes of our meeting. He said, ‘We are on, and we will make it.’ He stood by us like a rock, and saw us through it all. I am trying to process the fact that he is not with us anymore.”