Indian filmmaker Jagmohan Mundhra, whose credits include UK-set films such as Provoked and Shoot On Sight, died of cardiac arrest on Sunday. He was 62.
Mundhra was admitted to Bombay Hospital in South Mumbai last week with gastrointestinal hemorrhage but then suffered cardiac arrest and passed away on Sunday.
Born in 1948 to a conservative family that discouraged him from watching too many films, Mundhra studied engineering in Mumbai, then moved to the US for post-graduate studies. However, the film world called him back to Mumbai and he made his debut Suraag, starring Sanjeev Kumar and Shabana Azmi, in 1982.
He followed this with drama Kamla, about the flesh trade in India, then moved to the US where he made a string of English-language thrillers including The Jigsaw Murders, Eyewitness To Murder, Open House and Halloween Night.
In 2000, he moved towards making issue-based movies starting with Bawander, starring Nandita Das, based on the true story of rape victim Bhanwari Devi.
In 2006, he made the London-set drama Provoked, starring Aishwarya Rai as a victim of domestic violence. Also set in London, his 2007 Shoot On Sight, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Greta Scacchi and Brian Cox, dealt with the West’s perception of Muslims following 9/11.
He returned to lighter fare with his last film, Naughty At 40, and was prepping Kissa Kutte Ka, the third in a series of films about women’s issues, at the time of his death. He was also planning to make a film about Indian political leader Sonia Gandhi.
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