Hindi
Maverick Productions to distribute dubbed Hollywood movie
MUMBAI: Director Moustapha Akkad‘s Hollywood classic Al-Risalah presents Islam in its true spirit. This blockbuster that received rave reviews both in the Arab world and the largely Islam-phobic West (it opened in 3000 theatres across the USA) has now reached India. Dubbed in Urdu with music and a song by A. R. Rahman, the film will soon hit theatres across the country on 28 December 2007.
The dubbed Hindi version has been produced by Oasis Enterprises, which is owned by partners Yamshi Ahmed and Saad Ahmed. Oasis Enterprises has acquired the rights for the film. Al-Risalah is being distributed by Anuj Saxena‘s Maverick Productions who has distributed Om Shanti Om in Rajasthan and Cash in Mysore.
Maverick Production CEO Anuj Saxena says, “It is an interesting different film with a unique subject, so when the offer of distribution came we found it to be a good praposition. The song sung by A. R. Rehman is also outstanding. Maverick is considering a couple of more mainstream films for distribution in 2008.”
“We always wanted to bring this film to Indian audiences because perhaps no other film presents a more balanced, more nuanced image of Islam,” said Yamshi Ahmed, co-producer of Al-Risalah (dubbed version).
“No doubt, watching this Oscar nominated film will surely be a unique and enriching experience for the audience for a better understanding of Islam and the times of Prophet Mohammad,” says Saad Ahmed, co-producer (dubbed version) of the film.
Al-Risalah is the story of Islam from its birth and evolution to its triumph, with the best Hollywood production values full of grandeur and emotion. The film has been approved by Al Azhar University, Egypt, the ulemas of the sub-continent and Mufakkir –e –Islam, Maulana Dr Syed Kalbe Sadiq Sahab Qibla who is the vice prsident of All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
The producers held a private screening at an Andheri theatre recently where many eminent Muslims, including some ulemas, watched it. “We deliberately invited the ulemas because it deals with a sensitive issue,” informed Urdu poet and columnist Hasan Kamal who dubbed the movie in Urdu.
The film releases first in Mumbai on 28 December.
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.
