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(If you feel suicidal or know someone in distress, please reach out to them with kindness and call these numbers of local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs.)
In 2014, Shabnam Sukhdev's The Last Adieu – where she constructs a portrait of her late father and celebrated film-maker Sukhdev Singh Sandhu – won the 61st National Film Award for Best Biographical Film.
The documentary film was shot by then 23-year-old Ashwin Anurag Shukla from Goa – who was a student at a private college in Pune, pursuing his undergraduate degree in photography.
Eight years later, on 5 August, 32-year-old Ashwin Anurag Shukla's decomposing body was found in the S12B block room of the boys' hostel, on the very FTII campus in Pune, where he was studying cinematography. He was last spotted by his hostel neighbours almost three days earlier, on 2 August.
Goa-based photographer Dattaraj Bodke knew Ashwin for more than a decade – and in certain sense, they even grew up together – as family friends, classmates, and later, colleagues on projects. Dattaraj, along with another friend Chirayu, met Ashwin on 1 August in Pune – a day before he was last spotted on campus.
"I met him after a gap of two years, due to the pandemic, and I did not notice anything out of ordinary that day. When we were in our undergraduate days, he was like a guiding force to us as he was a couple of years older, and had some experience in photography. I remember seeing a photo of him when he was three years, with a camera. That's how much he wanted to be a film-maker. He had rock-solid goals and self-belief," Chirayu, a Pune-based photographer, told The Quint.
Ashwin has IMDB credits as a cinematographer for three other projects – Earth Crusader (Documentary-2016), Taap (Short-2020), and Whispers of Henna Tree (Documentary Short-2021).
Srikant Prasad Nishtala, who was the first Assistant Director in The Last Adieu, and is now a film-maker in Mumbai, told The Quint that Ashwin was not only one of the most "passionate artists" he has worked with, but also the "keenest of listeners."
The film-maker also described Ashwin as "well-read intellectual," with whom one could talk about anything – from politics to paintings – and was also a repository of knowledge about all kinds of cameras.
Kadambari Kardam, a film-maker in Mumbai, echoed Srikant's sentiments – only she did not get the opportunity to meet Ashwin in person. Speaking to The Quint, she said:
The students at FTII had called the Deccan Gymkhana Police after noticing a foul smell from his room, following which police officials broke open the door.
"The body was in a decomposed state. Prima facie, it is a case of suicide. But no suicide note has been found so far and our investigation is on," Murlidhar Karpe, senior inspector of Deccan Gymkhana police station, said.
Another student of the FTII, who has worked with Ashwin on a project in the past, said that there have been times when he was "not spotted" for a couple of days due to medication.
Saeed Rabbihashmi, registrar, FTII, said in a statement, "The cinematography student committed suicide on Friday morning, his body has been taken to Sassoon for postmortem. Police investigation will reveal the reason."
Ashwin's last rites were performed in Pune on 6 August. He is survived by his parents and a twin brother.
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