Jhamu Sughand, whose name has been associated with some of the most successful and talked-about Bollywood films of the last decade and more, died here on Monday. The producer-financier-distributor, who was in his late fifties, succumbed to a massive cardiac arrest at Juhu’s Criticare Multi-speciality Hospital and Research Centre around 11 am.Sughand, who had suffered two heart attacks earlier, was admitted to the hospital at 2 am on Monday . “He had suffered a cardiac arrest at home, following which he was brought here,” said Dr Tushar Shah, who has been treating Sughand since 1993. His family members could not be reached despite repeated attempts.Sughand, who worked for the family’s cloth trading business in his hometown Deolali, Maharashtra, before moving to Mumbai in 1979, was famous for his uncanny sense to back the right project. This film-buff entered film distribution in 1988, after running a printing press specialising in film merchandise for years. Over the next six years, he distributed over 100 films across the country. But it’s with Mani Ratnam’s Bombay, which he produced, that he got recognition. Other major films, like Rangeela, Earth, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Aks, Chaachi 420, Lagaan and Filhaal followed making him a major name in production and financing. The artistic freedom he gave to directors made him a favourite with the likes of Buddhadev Dasgupta—who did Swapner Din (2004) and Kaalpurush (2005) with Sughand. Incidentally, both the films fetched National Award—Dasgupta received the best director trophy for Swapner Din and Kaalpurush bagged the best feature film award. “As a producer, he was the best with whom I have worked. Later, he was probably entangled in some problems which delayed the release of films,” said Dasgupta.Sriram Raghavan, who directed Johnny Gaddaar, said, “Though I had cast a newcomer like Neil Nitin Mukesh, he never interfered in it. The film was initially funded by Sughand, before Adlabs Films took over. Sughand was very gracious about the transition.” “It’s a big loss for the industry. Look at the kind of films he had supported.”Sughand had plans of producing more films, including Abbas Tyrewala’s Jane Tu Ya Jane Na and some Bengali films.
