'Patang' director Prashant Bhargava passes away

NEW YORK: Indian-origin US filmmaker Prashant Bhargava, who directed critically acclaimed movie "Patang", has died of a heart attack. He was 42.

Bhargava, who passed away on May 15 here, had a history of heart trouble, his sister Anurima, according to Variety.

Bhargava was born and raised in Chicago and was a graduate of Kenwood Academy. Bhargava previously worked in promotions at HBO and had a background in directing music videos and commercials.

Bhargava's feature length directorial debut was "Patang", a film set in the backdrop of the kite festival of Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who starred along side Mukkund Shukla and Seema Biswas in "Patang", took to twitter to condole Bhargava's death.

I am still in shock that my dearest friend director #Prashant Bhargava passed away. You will be missed. RIP

— Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@Nawazuddin_S) May 17, 2015

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta said,

A fine obituary of Prashant Bhargava, whose films represented "a longing for Indian culture" We will miss you, friend http://t.co/Ny8r1nESUr

— Vikas Bajaj (@vikasbajaj) May 19, 2015

Bhargava recently worked on "Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi" with musician Vijay Iyer.