New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS): Hollywood-based Indian filmmaker Jagmohan Mundhra, who made films like "Bawandar" and "Provoked", died Sunday, industry sources said. He was 62.
Confirming the news of Mundhra's demise, actress Neetu Chandra, who was seen in his 2010 thriller "Apartment: Rent at Your Own Risk", said: "Yes, he is dead."
Actress Seema Biswas, who was supposed to work in his next film, said Mundrha had been admitted to hospital to check internal bleeding but did not have any further details.
Veteran actress and activist Shabana Azmi tweeted: "Sad news. Filmaker Jagmohan Mundhra passed away this morning. Heartfelt condolences to his family. Jagmohan Mundhara - he was one the most subjective director. His 'Shoot On Sight' is a film which is identical to 'A Wednesday'."
Others also posted condolence messages on Twitter.
Pooja Bedi: "Deeply saddened to hear Jagmohan Mundhra passed away! A WONDERFUL man, my first director & the one responsible for me being in show business," said Pooja Bedi on her Twitter page.
Vikram Bhatt: "Just heard that filmmaker Jagmohan Mundhra has passed away! A prayer for the departed and strength to his family, Vikram Bhatt."
Kabir Bedi: "Jagmohan Mundra, friend from my Hollywood years, passes away and I'm deeply sad. Last met at Shammi Kapoor's funeral. RIP."
Born in 1948 in a conservative Marwadi family, Mundhra studied engineering at IIT Mumbai and then moved to US to do his M.Sc. But his ultimate calling was moviemaking and in 1982 he ventured into filmmaking with Sanjeev Kumar and Shabana Azmi starrer "Suraag" and this was followed by the women-centric film "Kamla" with Shabana and Deepti Naval in lead roles.
Later he made films like "Night Eyes", "The Jigsaw Murders", "Eyewitness to Murder", "Open House" and "Halloween Night".
In 2000, Mundhra moved to issue-based movies and the first in the series was Nandita Das starrer and critically acclaimed "Bawander", which was based on real story of rape victim Bhanwari Devi in Rajasthan.
In 2007, he teamed up with Aishwarya Rai to bring on screen the trials and tribulations of London-based Punjabi woman Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a victim of domestic violence.
In 2007, Mundhra took up yet another sensitive subject for his movie "Shoot On Sight", which talked about the West's perception of Muslims following 9/11. The movie's take-off point is the order London police passed to shoot suspected terrorists after the July 7, 2005, London subway bombings.
Howeveer, Mundhra moved to a lighter subject with Govinda starrer "Naughty @ 40".
He was very keen to make a film on Congress president Sonia Gandhi.