Drishyam' director Nishikant Kamat dies in Hyderabad hospital
Hyderabad: Filmmaker Nishikant Kamat, best known for directing the thriller drama Drishyam, died on Monday after battling liver cirrhosis for two years, the AIG Hospitals here said. He was 50.
Kamat, who had multiple organ failure, was admitted to hospital on July 31 with complaints of fever and excessive fatigue.
It was diagnosed that he was suffering from liver cirrhosis for the past two years. Initially, we started antibiotics and supportive medications upon which Mr. Kamat showed improvement, but his condition soon deteriorated with progressive liver dysfunction and drowsiness, the hospital said.
The director was immediately shifted to the ICU, where his general condition gradually declined. He had also developed respiratory failure and hypotension on Sunday. His condition deteriorated, eventually leading to multiple organ failure, the hospital added.
Kamat, who also made the action film Force and the Irrfan Khan-led Madaari, died at 4.24 pm, it said.
"My equation with Nishikant was not just about Drishyam, a film which he directed with Tabu and me. It was an association that I cherished. He was bright; ever-smiling. He has gone too soon. RIP Nishikant," his Drishyam star Ajay Devgn said on Twitter.
Kamat made his directorial debut with the Marathi film "Dombivali Fast" in 2005. His Bollywood debut was "Mumbai Meri Jaan", also starring Irrfan.
Kamat played a negative role in John Abraham-starrer "Rocky Handsome" in 2016, which he also directed. His biggest hit was the Ajay Devgn-Tabu starrer "Drishyam", which was a remake of the Malayalam movie of the same name.
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LPG bookings close to normal, but situation continues to be worrisome
New Delhi (PTI): Bookings for domestic LPG refills are approaching pre-war normal levels, signalling a gradual return to normalcy, but concerns persist as supply restrictions on commercial consumers, including hotels, remain in place due to ongoing disruptions in input supplies caused by the West Asia conflict.
Over 33 crore domestic LPG consumers had, on average, booked about 55 lakh cylinders daily before the February 28 military strikes by the US and Israel on Iran. The escalation triggered sweeping retaliation from Tehran, effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz - a critical shipping corridor used by major Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to export crude oil, gas and LPG to key markets including India.
The shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz blocked India's access to almost 60 per cent of its LPG, leading to curtailment of supplies to commercial users and triggering panic buying by domestic users, which peaked to 87.7 lakh on March 13.
Bookings have since fallen to 56-57 lakh on March 18, said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
"Panic booking is coming down," she said, adding that the government continues to prioritise the supply of available LPG to domestic households.
However, "LPG (supply) situation remains worrisome but there is no dry out at any LPG distributor," she said.
Commercial users are getting just a fifth of their requirement.
Sharma said domestic LPG production has increased by over 40 per cent in the last two weeks and the three public sector oil marketing companies have been making normal, pre-war levels of daily deliveries of LPG refills.
"Our supply has not dipped. Some days the supply has been higher (than pre-war times). On March 18, 54.91 lakh LPG cylinders were delivered against a booking of over 56 lakh," she said.
Oil companies are operating extra shifts to keep LPG deliveries in pace with the bookings. They delivered 62.5 lakh cylinders on March 13 and 60 lakh on March 14 - the peak two days of panic bookings.
LPG supplies are under close monitoring amid the prevailing geopolitical tensions, with no dry-outs reported at distributorships and domestic cylinder deliveries continuing uninterrupted, she said.
Online bookings have risen sharply to 94 per cent, while Delivery Authentication Code (a unique OTP that is sent to registered mobile numbers of actual users to ensure LPG is being delivered to correct customers) coverage has expanded to 83 per cent.
In addition, customers near a city gas network are being encouraged to shift to piped natural gas - a convenient alternative to LPG as the fuel continuously travels through pipes to household kitchens without the botheration of refill bookings.
"In the last two weeks, 1.25 lakh new domestic, commercial and industrial connections have been issued," she said.
Raids and inspections to stop black marketing continue with seizure of cylinders as well as FIRs in several states.
The Union government on March 18 wrote to all state governments asking them to take all steps to prevent black marketing and hoarding while taking stringent actions against violators.
Besides, alternate fuels such as kerosene are being promoted, she said adding commercial LPG stocks have been placed with states for using them as per their priority list.
