Shamin Desai lost his battle against cancer last week, and Percept Pictures lost a director who was to make a film on the controversial former IPL chief

Now, it can be told. Shamin Desai, who died a tragic death last Wednesday due to cancer, was all set to direct the Lalit Modi bio-pic for Percept Pictures.

With his death there is a big question mark over the project.

Shailendra Singh of Percept Pictures said, "Shamin was my man for the Modi project. He had the vision and the confidence. I don't know if I want to make that film anymore."

What's worse, Desai, who was barely 40, passed away before he could see the release of his first directorial venture, 24x7 Raftaar " a fast-paced thriller-drama about the machinations of the media.

The film had been embroiled in a financial crisis for two years.

Singh, who also produced 24x7 Raftaar, was a close friend of Desai's. "He was young, had a lovely wife and a little son. Fate couldn't gave dealt a bigger blow. The last year was really hard on Shamin. He suffered a lot."

"As far as I am concerned, Shamin was the Guy Ritchie of India. He alone had the vision and talent to direct the Lalit Modi bio-pic. Sadly his health let him down."

It's now Singh's mission to release 24x7 Raftaar. "There are huge financial liabilities to be taken care of before the film can be released. But we owe Desai that."

Desai is the fourth young director to die within a year after Sourabh Narang, Pankaj Advani and Manish Acharya. Desai also directed the video of singer KK's famous song, Pal.