COVID-19: Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Bollywood mourns the death of producer Ryan Stephen

Bollywood is mourning the loss of film producer Ryan Ivan Stephen who spearheaded projects such as ‘Indoo Ki Jawani’ and ‘Devi’, the award-winning short film that starred Kajol.

According to reports, Stephen died following complications from COVID-19.

His loss was mourned by Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan, who shared a picture of the filmmaker with the message: “RIP Ryan.”

Alia Bhatt also posted a similar message in tribute to Stephen via her Instagram Story.

Actress Kiara Advani, who starred in the film that Stephen bankrolled, wrote: “Our dearest Ryan gone too soon.”

Actor Manok Bajpayee shared filmmaker Suparn S Varma’s tweet on his Twitter handle and wrote: “Its so so shocking for all of us who knew this gentle soul. It really can’t be true!! I will miss you my friend RYAN.”

https://twitter.com/EmmayEntertain/status/1398538807289389058/photo/1

Varma had tweeted earlier: “Life is cruel! But you were kind! @ryanmstephen thank you for your compassion in a ruthless world. I’m glad we undertook a journey on a few stories, the joy in writing them was because of you. You leave behind so many who loved you. Cook up a storm my friend. God bless you.”

Stephen reportedly started his career as a write before working as a production designer on Pooja Bhatt’s ‘Rog’, which starred Irrfan Khan in the lead. He later teamed up with writer-lyricist Niranjan Iyenger to start his production house, Electric Apples Entertainment.

The deadly second wave of COVID-19 has swept through India with the death toll in the country crossing 322,000.