/> Aparna Sen who had worked with cinematographer Somak Mukherjee in her latest Bengali work Iti Mrinalini was all set to work with him again in her first Hindi film introducing Hema Malini's daughter Ahana in the female lead. And now the Ahana project would have to find itself a new cinematographer.

Aparna is numbed by the young Somak's sudden death. She had formed a very close relationship with the young technician.

Filmmaker Sudipto Chattopadhyay is in a state of shock after the brutally-abrupt death of Somak Mukherjee the cinematographer who had shot Sudipto's Pankh.

"Reenadi (Aparna Sen) is devastated. She treated Somak as her son. He was at this very moment doing the colour correction of Reenadi's Iti Mrinalini when ...this happened.

I had discovered the boy at age 20. He was extremely talented. I persuaded him to enroll at the FTII in Pune (Film & Television Institute Of India). I coaxed him into working with Reena-di.

He was rapidly on the rise.He had recently done the cinematography of Suman Mukherjee's Herbert and Ribhu Dasgupta's Michael. The world had only just begun to open its arms to Somak.How could he be snatched away so cruelly?'"

On Saturday night Sonak died in a motorcycle accident in Kolkata.

Sobs Sudipto, "And it happened right in front of his home. His 75-year old father saw it with his own eyes. Somak was riding pillion. A car hit the motocycle from behind.Somak flew across the air to several feet away. He broke his neck and suffered multiple injuries in his head."

Sudipto was all set to shoot a video on Anna Hazare with Somak.

Says Sudipto, "We were supposed to start shooting from 2 May. I had spoken just five days ago to Somak. I said I wouldn't be able to pay him anything for the Anna Hazare video.

He shot back, ‘Do you think I expect anything?' He was also supposed to shoot the new film by Buddhadeb Dasgupta. This is not fair. 35 is no age to die."

Somak also shot Pritish Nandy's Ugly Aur Pagli and Subhash Ghai's Black & White. Aparna Sen and Hema Malini would now have to look for another cinematographer for Ahana Deol's screen launch.