MUMBAI: Around two years and eight months ago, the following post appeared on Pritish Nandy’s timeline on social media.
“You relax on a plane, even if you don’t know the pilot. You relax on a ship even if you don’t know the captain. You relax on a bus even if you don’t know the driver. Why don’t you relax in life knowing that the universe is in control?”
To which Pritish responded.
“Loved this post by @malini_ramani Perhaps I am trying to tell myself this as well. I have lived my whole life chasing stress. Stress brought forth poetry. Stress inspired my journalism. Stress informs all my creative work. Yet I yearn to relax, to switch off and go on a long vacation. Someday perhaps… when life expects less from me.”
Pritish Nandy did realise his dream to go for a vacation five months later after that post when he got a chance to travel through Italy. He roamed the streets of Rome like a commoner, visited Harry’s Bar, soaked in the sights, the Vatican, appreciating and admiring art and the sculpting finesse of Michaelangelo’s David and the unknown Pieta. He looked relaxed and like he was having a good time. But the trip was relatively short and his thoughts kept him busy and they were probably racing a hundred a dozen through that vast and deep mind of his.
And that’s exactly how Pritish Nandy lived his life: busy. He kept himself busy, as a poet in his younger days in Calcutta, a city he fled from around 40 years ago for the city of dreams. He published his own works and translated the works of other great poets – altogether more than 40 of them.
In Mumbai, he kept himself pre-occupied as publishing director of Bennett Coleman & Co between 1982-91 working on all its magazines but he got the most known for what he did as the editor of The Illustrated Weekly, which he transformed into a publication that stood out and made every one stand up too. Whether they were authors or politicians or painters or film stars or beauty queens or musicians.
President Gen Zia ul Haq invited him to his residence in Pakistan and gave him an explosive interview just a short while before he was assassinated. Then he and Rajat Sharma secretly recorded an off the record interview with the godman Chandraswami in London, which led to political explosions in India. Actress Neena Gupta never forgave him for picking up Masaba Gupta’s birth certificate and identifying Viv Richards as the father of their love child.
Pritish did a stint with the Observer of Politics & Business, which was Reliance Industries’ Anil Ambani’s attempt at getting into media with his father Dhirubhai’s blessings. It floundered soon, despite first Prem Shankar Jha’s initial editorial guidance and then Pritish’s but it gave him an impetus to launch his own company which he set up in the offices of OBP, if I remember correctly.
Thus Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) was born. Which then again kep him busy as it went on to make television shows for Doordarshan, Zee TV, Star and Sony. Among them were current affairs shows, business chat shows, comedies, daily entertainment bulletins, Marathi dramas, Hindi dramas. Some of these he hosted himself.
From television PNC transitioned to films making some memorable titles like Jhankar Beats, Kaante, Sur, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi., Pyaar ke side effects, Chameli and Mastizaade. Some of the biggest names worked with him Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Dutt, Kareena Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai in his films.
And then of course came the era of streaming. That got him busy again, it got his creative juices flowing. He, along with his daughters Rangita and Ishita, ploughed right in. Their first original approved by Prime Video Four More Shots Please was among the top shows of the year, in terms of viewership. It also went to get nominated for an international Emmy, which pleased Pritish no end. Of course, what gave him a lot of pride was that his was amongst the first few production companies to be listed on the stock exchanges, way back in 2000. And that the company was celebrating 25 years of its listing in 2025.
Pritish got recognition very early at the age of 26 when he was given the Padma Shri. And he did hobnob with the powers that be. Indira Gandhi the then prime minister came to the release of his book of poems Lonesong Street and appreciated his work. This was much before he became a power house courtesy his journalistic endeavors.
He has been a recipient of many awards: the EM Forster Literary Award, the Unesco Asia Pacific Heritage Award, the International Association Award from the Humane Society of the United States, the Friends of Liberation War Honour from Bangladesh, and hundreds of award nominations for the films PNC has produced, from all over the world.
A lot has been written about Pritish’s caring for animals and how he along with Maneka Gandhi set up People for Animals much before its time. For him his pets were his children. His caring for strays on the street led him to strike a friendship with Ratan Tata who also shared with him his love for animals. In fact, so close was their friendship that Ratan Tata also picked up a chunk of PNC shares from the open stock market.
Pritish was elected to the Rajya Sabha on a Shiv Sena ticket in 1998 from Maharashtra with the support from both Sena and the BJP members without either of them knowing it.
His pen shall write no more. Nor will his brush make the strokes on canvas. Pritish Nandy wielded both strongly. As a poet. As an editor. As a painter. As the script doctor or writer of the shows or flms that he gave his creative inputs for. With his passing away following a cardiac arrest, all that has been silenced. He breathed his last on 8 January 2025 at the age of 73 at his south Mumbai residence, leaving behind his two daughters who he doted on – Ishita and Rangita – his son Kushan, his pets and many a stray on the streets of Mumbai.
(Even as this piece is being written another Bennett, Coleman & Co legend Bhaskar Das continues to be critical in a Mumbai hospital. His family is counting down the days as the doctors have given up, surrendered to the cancer that has spread and ravaged his body)
