Oscars 2024: The Academy gives tribute to late art director Nitin Desai

The Academy gave tribute to late art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai at the Oscars 2024 ‘In Memoriam’ segment on Monday. Desai served as the art director and production designer for films like Lagaan (2001), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Devdas (2002) and Munnabhai MBBS (2003).

Desai was found dead in August last year at the ND Studios in Karjat near Mumbai. He was 57. Every year, the Academy Awards remembers people in the film industry who passed away in the last one year. Along with him, the Academy also paid tributes to Russia’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny, actors Matthew Perry, Glenda Jackson, Lee Sun-Kyun, Ryan O’Neil, Michael Gambon, Julian Sands, musicians Tina Turner, Robbie Roberston, Harry Belafonte and comedian Richard Lewis.

In his career spanning more than three decades, Desai worked closely with directors like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rajkumar Hirani in translating their vision on screen. He also designed the sets for the popular reality quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati.

In 2021, the Oscars gave a tribute to actor Irrfan Khan and costume designer Bhanu Athaiya. In the same year, Rishi Kapoor and Sushant Singh Rajput were also mentioned on the website of the Academy.