Hindi
NFDC Film Bazaar offers platform for film deals
MUMBAI: The 6th annual Film Bazaar organized by National Film Development Corporation Ltd. (NFDC) concluded with Vipin Vijay (‘Chavunilum, A Voice From Elsewhere‘) and Indranil Roychowdhury (‘Phoring‘) winning awards.
The Incredible India Award ceremony was attended by Ministry of Tourism secretary Parvez Dewan, NFDC MD Nina Lath Gupta, director Vishal Bhardwaj, film maker Sudhir Mishra, director Ashutosh Gowariker, film maker and screenwriter Dibakar Banerjee, actor Sanjay Suri and film critic Rajeev Masand.
The four-day film market which was held between 21 to 24 of November at the Marriott Resort, Goa, saw participation of about 750 Delegates from over 32 countries who used this platform to network with producers, filmmakers and distributors from across the world. Film Bazaar also promoted co-productions by facilitating collaborations among potential domestic and international partners.
During the course of the festival, Mumbai‘s Independent Movies has finalized the financing of Sunrise (Arunoday) following a deal with India‘s Infinitum Productions to increase its funding. Indian production house Sikhya Entertainment and Italy‘s Dugong Production have signed a deal to co-produce the documentary An Indian Kiss based on a concept by Nandana Sen and Franco La Cecla. Tulsea International, a Los Angeles and Mumbai based sales agent and talent management company picked up the international rights of Marathi film Masala, directed by Sandesh Kulkarni and produced by Arbhaat Films.
Cinemart Rotterdam selected four promising producers Aditi Anand (Little Red Car), Vivek Gomber (Zoo Films), Anusha Rizwi (Third World Films), Nilesh Navlakha (Navlakha) Arts and Holy Basil Combine to attend the Producers‘ Lab held alongside Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Also, NFDC Film Bazaar‘s new partner; Dubai International Film Festival has selected a co-production Market project, Biscuit Dour (Biscuit Race) by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki for the Dubai Film Market, which is held alongside the Dubai Film Festival.
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.
