The veteran filmmaker will be remembered by students of cinema

Mani Kaul's films were not really understood by the masses but he held a special place in the hearts of cinema apprentices. The veteran filmmaker passed away yesterday at his residence in Gurgaon.

He was 66. A student of the FTII, he was known for both his feature films and docus. His film Duvidha, which is said to have inspired Amol Palekar's Paheli, won him the National Award for direction.

He was working as the creative director of the film house at Osian's connoisseurs of art.

Nina Gupta, managing director of National Film Development Corporation says, "Mani Kaul was truly a pioneer of new Indian cinema. A legend, whose loss will be mourned by film connoisseurs and students of cinema.

We at NFDC have had the privilege of closely working with him in Ashad Ka Ek Din (1971) and Duvidha (1973) where he was the producer and Uski Roti (1970) and Nazar (1989) both of which he directed for us."

She adds, "He was at the forefront of encouraging young filmmakers and this saw him essay the role of a mentor and a creative producer in our film Anhey Ghorhey Da Daan, which is currently in post-production.

We were co-producers in his new directorial venture Under Her Spell. With his demise, we have lost a guiding force and the country has an iconic filmmaker."