Hindi
CBFC’s Nihalani defends diktat banning use of certain words & scenes in films
NEW DELHI: Even as film bodies are yet to react on the issue, several members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) have reacted strongly to the diktat by chairman Pahlaj Nihalani banning use of certain English and Hindi words in films.
While some members tweeted that they had not been consulted and another termed him a moron, Nihalani told Indiantelevision.com that he was very much within the Certification Guidelines in issuing the directive.
In a note sent to producers associations and some prominent individual producers apart from his own CBFC members, Nihalani has banned the use of 11 English words, and 10 Hindi words, which are almost literal translations of these words that, according to him were obscene.
In addition, he said films should avoid scenes of violence against women, glorification of violence, double-meaning words, and the use of the name Bombay instead of Mumbai.
In a series of tweets, CBFC member and filmmaker Ashoke Pandit said, “I as a Filmmaker & #CBFC board member do not endorse the list issued by the Chairperson on words not to be used in films. I was not consulted. Does the #ChairpersonCBFC endorse other bad words, which are not in this list can be used in the films? #Antifilmmakers. The list of words ‘not to be used in films’ issued by the Chairperson is against the freedom & creative liberty of a filmmaker. If I am portraying the character of Dawood in my film, he will use the language as per his character & not what a saint would use. Does the #ChairpersonCBFC endorse other bad words which are not in this list can be used in the films?”
Reacting to the tweets, Nihalani said he stood by his directive and wondered why such obscenities had been permitted so far. He said this made it difficult not only for family audiences to see such films, but added the burden of ‘bleeping’ out these words when the films were shown on television.
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.
