Indian director Manish Acharya, who rose to fame with his critically-acclaimed first feature, Loins of Punjab, was killed when he fell off a horse on Saturday, according to Indian media reports.
He was holidaying with his family at the Maharashtrian hill station of Matheran. According to Times of India, Manish fell from the horse and hit himself on the head.
After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the filmmaker found success with 2007's Loins of Punjab, his low-budget comedy about non-resident Indians participating in a singing contest in New Jersey. Acharya also wrote and produced the film, which went on to win the best feature film award at the First Run Film Festival, run by Tisch.
Acharya also had a small acting role in Zoya Akhtar's 2009 film Luck By Chance.
Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra was one of the first to send her condolences, tweeting "My friend, future director, super funny wannabe beach bum and unbelievable human being. @ManishAcharya .RIP. Im too shocked to say more."
