THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Feb 25 (Agencies) : Young filmmaker Nayana Sooryan was found dead in her rented apartment at Althara in the capital on Saturday night. She was 28.

Hailing from Alappad, she was a familiar face in the city’s film circles along with her mentor Lenin Rajendran.

After her graduation in 2010, she began working as an assistant director with Lenin for the film ‘Makaramanju’. She also assisted him in ‘Edavappathi’ and the segment ‘Pinpe Nadappaval’ from the anthology film ‘Crossroads’. She also debuted as a director in that anthology with ‘Pakshikalude Manam.’

According to her close friend Merin Mathew, Nayana has been having issues with her sugar levels due to low food intake, since Lenin Rajendran’s passing away last month.

“Her family has been trying to call her. Since she remained unreachable, we went to her house. We managed to open the door by 1 a.m. and found her on the bed. Though we rushed her to the hospital, we were told that she must have died hours ago.” Her body was kept for public viewing at the Manaveeyam Veethi and later at the Kerala State Film Development Corporation.