Hindi
Novex acquires Shemaroo library; sets up system to track piracy
MUMBAI: Novex Communications has acquired sole cable TV distribution rights for the films and film programmes of Shemaroo library.
Novex plans to increase the rights from 1800 to 2000 movie titles of various languages from Shemaroo‘s library by the end of this month.
As of now, popular titles like Raja Hindustani, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Mr India, Mann, Masti, Hum Kisise Kum Nahi, Gangajal, Kuch Na Kaho, Murder, Jaan-e-Mann and Omkara are with Novex.
Apart from this, Novex has put in place systems wherein they can track any cable network in any city at any time to check the film, or film show, being telecast. This system enables them to constantly check copyright violation of their property.
Thus, to telecast films and film shows acquired by Novex on local cable channels, a cable operator or multi-system operator (MSO) needs to sign a contract with Novex.
“We have signed up licensing agreements with all the multi-system operators for screening of the movies from the Shemaroo library,” says Novex Communications promoter Ketan Kanakia.
Further elaborating on this, Kanakia adds: “We have already initiated action against the errant cable operators and carried out raids in various cities like Dhulia, Nandurbagh, Nagpur, Sholapur and Akola of Maharashtra. In fact, the Maharashtra government has already approved implementation of Detention Under Gunda Act to curb copyright violation. Now, we are going across the country to ensure that we get what is our due.”
Every month all the registered MSOs are sent posters of Hindi and local language film titles, a demo DVD and one letter educating them about the company, their rights and activities by Novex Communications.
“This is the first time ever that a copyright holder has dispatched posters declaring the film titles held by them. It is because of this that anybody actually and legally has the titles as well as ready software with them. The day a deal is signed, we deliver the software and permissions. Unlike some other very old companies claiming to hold the film rights, we have nothing ambiguous about our titles. And that is why we are able to print them on the posters and send across,” says Kanakia.
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.
