Hindi
Two Adlabs Cinemas open in north India; 13 more to follow in next 6 months
MUMBAI: Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has opened two Adlabs Cinemas in North India – a 5-screen cinema at the Great India Place (GIP) in Noida and a 3-screen cinema at TDI Mall in Agra, two kilometers from the Taj Mahal, according to two separate official releases.
The new cinema at the GIP, North India‘s biggest shopping mall, is the only cinema at the mall. This will further strengthen the chain‘s presence in Delhi NCR, says the release, further adding that the next six months will see the rollout of at least 13 properties and 30 screens in North India.
While the seating capacity of the TDI mall Adlabs is 1,021 seats, the GIP Adlabs will have a total seating capacity of 1,220 seats. However, both cinemas will have world-class widescreen viewing screens, food and beverage offerings, crystal-clear DTS sound, superior Xenon projection systems and plush seats.
The new property in Noida will also have an exclusive Ebony Lounge, which features a 94-seat screen with fully reclinable seats, the best possible sound (provided by a standalone Bose Pipe Music system) and an attached lounge that offers an exclusive menu served by personalised and attentive staff as part of the “Silver Service.” A new and unique innovation will be the DJ system in the lobby which will play songs on request.
With regard to the new cinema in Noida, Adlabs Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra said, “It‘s great to be the only cinema in India‘s largest mall where the biggest brands of India and the world also have a presence. The Great India Place is a shopping Mecca located in one of the fastest growing cities in India in terms of consumer spending and we see immense potential for this property.”
“The new cinema will not only be catering to the residents of the city but will also be another must-see for local as well as international tourists visiting this historic city. Agra will be getting a second landmark in the form of a truly world-class cinema. Watch out for more exciting new features at this property,” said Dhingra, commenting on the new opening in Agra.
The largest cinema chain in India, Adlabs Cinemas has 127 screens spread over 42 properties nationwide.
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.
