Hindi
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures lines up seven Hindi films for 2015
MUMBAI: After a successful 2014 with films like Queen and Mary Kom, Viacom18 Motion Pictures (VMP) is all set to release a slew of films this year.
The studio has lined up as many as seven Hindi movies as well as two big Hollywood franchise films.
The first movie to release from VMP’s stable is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s action drama titled Main Gabbar, starring Akshay Kumar. The movie is set to release on 1 May.
The second film is the Ajay Devgn starrer Drishayam, which is directed by Nishikant Kamath. The movie is the Hindi remake of the highly acclaimed and box office trailblazer wherein the same lead role has been essayed by likes of Mohanlal (Kannada), Venkatesh (Telugu) and Kamal Hassan (Tamil). The film is slated to go on floors in March and will release in September – October this year.
Additionally, VMP will also release the Kalki Koechlin starrer Margarita with a Straw that has already been creating ripples on the international film circuit with its TIFF and NETPAC Best Asian Film Awards world premiere, BFI London European premiere, BIFF Asian premiere. The movie also won Kalki the Best Actress award at 18th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.
Furthermore, building upon the success of OMG – Oh My God, VMP is now producing its sequel titled Dharam IN Sankat, which is a satirical drama. The movie stars Paresh Rawal, Naseeruddin Shah and Anu Kapoor.
The studio is also readying a sequel to Pyaar Ka Punchnama as the battle of sexes continues in Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, a film that rocked the youth with its first edition.
Next in line is the comeback film of veteran director – Ramesh Sippy, who is donning the director’s hat after 15 long years. Catering to the youth as well as the family audiences, the studio’s next offering is Sippy’s Shimla Mirchi. The movie stars Hema Malini along with Rajkumar Rao and Rakul Preet.
VMP will also be releasing the story of the mountain man – Manjhi starring Nawazuddin Siddique in the lead directed by Ketan Mehta.
On the Hollywood front, the studio will be hosting two epic franchises – Terminator – Genisys starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mission Impossible 5 starring Tom Cruise.
Viacom18 Motion Pictures COO Ajit Andhare said, “VMP’s choice of films are centered around content that the new India wants to watch. This studio has consistently produced films that are shaping the new age Indian cinema whether it was Kahaani and Gangs of Wasseypur in the past or films like Bhaag Milkha, Madras Café, Queen and Mary Kom recently. These films have found box office success and also emerged as winners in best film category across various awards. As a studio we are constantly looking to define and shape a new mainstream that does not see box office success and acclaim as two different goalposts but one seamless outcome, our films in 2014 demonstrated this and our slate for 2015 further builds on that approach.”
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.
