Movies
Eros’ maiden Malayalam film ‘Life of Josutty’ to release on 18 September
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of their last regional hit – the Mahesh Babu starrer Telugu film Srimanthudu, Eros International Media is set to carve a niche in the Malayalam movie market with the release of its debut production, Life of Josutty.
Co-produced by Eros with Jayalal Menon and Anil Biswas’ Backwater Studios, the film is set for a worldwide release on 18 September, 2015.
After the critically acclaimed Drishyam, Life of Josutty marks the next directorial venture of Joseph.
Life of Josutty is a family drama starring Malayalam superstar Dileep along with Rachana Narayanankutty, Jyothikrishna, Harish Peradi, Sunil Sugatha, Suraj Vengharamoodu and Kalabhavan Mani. The film sees Jeethu and Dileep work together once again after Boss. Anil Johnson, who has previously composed music for Drishyam has composed music for Life of Josutty as well.
After Eros’ significant inroads into Tamil and Telugu cinema, the studio is now gearing up to make its mark into the Malayalam market.
Eros International managing director Sunil Lulla said, “Malayalam cinema has been blessed with a plethora of gifted directors, writers, actors and produces such diverse range of brilliant stories for discerning audiences. We are very happy to tap into this rich pool of talent by working with notable names like Dileep and Jeethu. Life of Josutty promises solid content for movie lovers with its unique story line backed by such a creative team.”
Joseph added, “Life of Josutty is not just a family entertainer but a journey through the realities of life.”
Life of Josutty is a drama set against the backdrop of a family with a fantasy edge. The film went on floors on 2 January, 2015 and was shot across Idukki in Kerala and New Zealand.
Hindi
Remembering Gyan Sahay, the lens behind film, television and advertising
From a puppet rabbit selling poppadums to Hindi cinema, he framed it all.
MUMBAI: There are careers, and then there are canvases. Gyan Sahay, the veteran cinematographer, director, and producer who passed away on 10 March 2026 in Mumbai, had one of the latter. Over several decades in the Indian film and television industry, he turned lenses, lights, and the occasional puppet rabbit into something approaching art.
A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, Sahay built his reputation as a director of photography across a career that stretched from the early 1970s all the way to the digital age. He was the kind of craftsman who understood that a well-composed shot is not merely a technical achievement but a quiet act of storytelling.
For most Indians of a certain age, however, Sahay will forever be the man behind the rabbit. His direction of the iconic long-running television commercial for Lijjat Papad, featuring its now-legendary puppet bunny, gave the country one of its most cheerfully persistent advertising images. It was the sort of work that sneaks into the national subconscious and takes up permanent residence.
His big-screen credits as cinematographer include Anokhi Pehchan (1972), Pagli (1974), Pas de Deux (1981), and Hum Farishte Nahin (1988). In 1999, he stepped behind a different kind of camera altogether, making his directorial debut with Sar Ankhon Par, a drama that featured Vikas Bhalla and Shruti Ulfat, with a cameo by Shah Rukh Khan for good measure.
On television, Sahay was particularly prized for his command of multi-camera production setups, a skill that made him a go-to technician for large-scale shows and reality programmes. In an industry that has never been especially patient with complexity, he was the calm hand on the rig.
In later life, Sahay turned teacher. He participated regularly in masterclasses and Digi-Talks, often hosted by organisations such as Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna, sharing hard-won wisdom on cinematography, the comedy of timing in a shot, and the sweeping changes brought by the shift from celluloid to digital. He was also said to have been involved in a project concerning a biographical film on Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy.
Tributes from the film industry poured in following the news of his passing, with colleagues remembering him as a senior cameraman who served as a rare bridge between two entirely different eras of Indian cinema. That is, perhaps, the finest thing one can say of any craftsman: he kept up, and he brought others along with him.
