His early films Gawahi (1989), Pathar Ke Phool (1991) and Jazbaat (1994) bombed at the box office and drained his finances. Jazbaat was made with the money Anant had inherited and the dud landed him deep in debt.

Anant resurfaced this year with three films: Joggers' Park, Mumbai Matinee and Ek Din 24 Ghante.

But even before his first release, Joggers' Park, made it into the theatres, Anant died of a heart attack.

The overweight director was on his way home after shooting a schedule of his latest film, Chameli (Kareena Kapoor, Rahul Bose) in a rickshaw when he died. He was 41.

Text: Ronjita Kulkarni

He died before his films were released