Hindi
India to have pavilion at European film market next month
NEW DELHI: The Confederation of Indian Industry, in partnership with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, is coordinating the setting up of an Indian paviilion at the the first film market of the year, the Eurpoean Film Market (EFM), being held in Berlin in Germany from 5to 15 February.
The Indian Pavilion at Hotel Marriott is aimed at creating awareness of the large growth in the Indian entertainment business. The India Pavilion would be the official place of activity for Indian delegates, government officials and international business and media.
I&B secretary Sushma Singh is expected to lead the Indian delegation.
With approximately 6443 industry professionals and 430 exhibitors from nearly 80 countries and 1105 market screenings, the EFM will provide facilities to network and enhance business.
Indian participants at EFM are to be provided some free amenities at the India Pavilion: These include Business Lounge for networking, Internet point, Limited shelf space for literature/publicity material display, Poster space for companies promotional movies at EFM (available on first-come-first–serve basis), running tea/coffee station, and invitation to attend India-related workshops/networking sessions at the Pavilion
CII and the Ministry are also publishing ‘ India -The Big Picture‘ Resource Directory on the Indian entertainment industry that will be circulated at EFM.
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.
