Leading Bhutanese director Tshering Wangyel, who played a key role in developing the Himalayan kingdom's movie industry with films that blended Bollywood and Buddhism, died in hospital Monday aged 43. "Our prolific filmmaker, Director Tshering Wangyel has passed away today morning in the hospital," the Bhutan Film Association said on its Facebook page. Wangyel was shooting his latest film when he was taken to hospital in the capital Thimphu last month with pneumonia, the association said.
"It's a great shock and a huge loss to the film industry and the nation," said Yeshi Dorji, executive director of the association. "Most of our popular actors and actresses got their break because of him - every year he would make at least a couple of films, creating so many jobs in the process," Dorji told AFP in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu in a phone call from Thimphu.