Bollywood pays homage to film-maker Jhamu Sugandh

Mumbai, May 26 (IANS) Well-known Bollywood personalities paid homage to producer and financer Jhamu Sugandh, who died here Monday following a cardiac arrest.

Producers and distributors, including Pahlaj Nihalani, Rattan Jain, Shyam Shroff, Kuku Kohli and others, paid their last respects to the maker of super-hit movies like 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'. He was cremated at the Juhu Crematorium here Monday evening.

Fifty-seven-year old film-maker is survived by a daughter and a son.

Sugandh suffered breathing problems early Monday morning and was rushed to the Life Criticare Hospital in Juhu, where he passed away a little before noon.

Actively associated with the industry for more than 25 years, Sugandh produced movies like 'Filhaal,' 'Aks,' 'Chachi 420' and 'Rangeela'.

His company, Jhamu Sugandh Productions, also produced off-beat movies like Buddhadeb Dasgupta's 'Kaalpurush' and Deepa Mehta's 'Earth'.

He also produced 'Bombay,' a love story between a Muslim girl and a Hindu boy weaved into the bloody communal Mumbai riots of 1992-93, and 'Black Friday', which dealt with the serial bomb blasts in the city.

Sugandh was also associated with 'Lagaan', which became India's official entry to the Oscars.

Other important productions he financed included 'Hum Kississe Kum Nahin', 'Khubsoorat', 'Hindustani' and 'Daud'.

He was also involved with the Kolkata film industry, and produced a few Bengali movies. He recently announced plans to produce at least half a dozen Bengali movies.