Hindi
Jaana Pehchana: A sequel that has come too late
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Producer: Aditya Chopra. |
Mumbai : Jaana Pehchana was one genuine idea for a sequel; the film is a sequel to the Rajshri‘s 1978 musical hit, Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, inspired in no mean measure by Erich Segal‘s novel Love Story, made into a successful Hollywood film starring Ryan O‘Neal and Ali MacGraw. Alas, the sequel comes 32 years after the original, about 20-25 years too late.
Sachin, the lead actor of Akhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, has prospered and become a business tycoon; he uses his wealth in philanthropy. A part of that is Lily Cancer Hospital, which he started in memory of his love, Ranjeeta, where poor are given free treatment. Having stated that, Sachin goes into a long flashback where the footage of the original film is used extensively and is a pleasure to watch because of great songs that it had.
The story for the sequel starts when a successful woman writer, Ranjeeta, approaches him to write his biography. A media shy Sachin agrees because she resembles his love, Lily, in whose memories he has lived a bachelor‘s life. Ranjeeta too has remained single after being ditched by someone she loved. In the process of numerous meetings to work on the biography, Sachin and Ranjeeta come closer and eventually feel the need for companionship for the rest of their lives.
The film holds interest while Ranjeeta does not know why everybody around Sachin, including him, is stunned when seeing her for the first time. The reason is given away too casually and a bit too early in the film. Proceedings after that sag as the film turns into a love story of two elderly people, who for viewers hold no star value. Though the film does link the past and present story fairly, 32 years is too long as quite a few generations would find it difficult to identify with the original; also the treatment given to the new story is that of the old era.
While Sachin manages to look presentable in his present age, the intermittent years have not been so generous with Ranjeeta who, despite heavy layers of make-up, looks harsh.
The Rajshris have given the film a very limited release with just one screen, Liberty Cinema, Mumbai, and expect it to grow with word of mouth before planning to exploit it on a wider scale.
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.
