Cinematographer Ashok Mehta dead

Ashok Mehta, one of India's best known cinematographers, is no more. He was suffering from advanced lung cancer and breathed his last at a hospital here Wednesday afternoon.

Mehta was admitted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital. He passed away at around 1 p.m., hospital sources confirmed to IANS. He was 65.

He was known for shooting some evocative films, including Shekhar Kapur's "Bandit Queen", Shyam Benegal's "Mandi" and "Trikaal", Aparna Sen's "36 Chowringhee Lane" and "Paroma", Shashi Kapoor's "Utsav", Subhash Ghai's "Ram Lakhan", "Khalnayak" and "Kisna", and M.F. Hausain's "Gaja Gamini".

The news of his ill health first surfaced during the recording of Raveena Tandon's chat show "Issi Ka Naam Zindagi Hai". He featured in a segment featuring Arjun Rampal, whom he had launched in Bollywood with his only directorial project "Moksha".