Hindi
Once upon Udaipur tales take centre stage at storytelling festival 2026
MUMBAI: Once upon a time is not just a phrase in Udaipur this January, it is a full-blown festival. The Udaipur Tales International Storytelling Festival has unveiled its celebrity artist lineup for its seventh edition, scheduled from 9 to 11 January 2026, promising three immersive days where stories travel by voice, memory and imagination rather than screens.
Setting the tone for the 2026 edition are National Award-winning actor Divya Dutta and acclaimed theatre and film actor Rajit Kapur, who headline a diverse roster of storytellers and performers from India and overseas. The line-up blends theatre, dance, music and oral narrative, with names such as Danish Husain, Arif Zakaria, Divy Nidhi Sharma, author Mayur Kalbag, international storytellers Maia Ganatra, Mikka Chesron, and musician-actor Meiyang Chang performing with his band. Adding a visual dimension, the Sanjukta Sinha Dance Company from Ahmedabad will present Shifting Sands.
A defining feature of the festival remains Honours Unveiled, the Honouring of Master Storytellers, a curated segment introduced in the fifth edition to recognise lifelong contributions to oral storytelling. The jury-led honour celebrates those who have preserved cultural memory, language and lived histories through the spoken word, reinforcing the festival’s belief that storytelling is a living, transformative art.
Speaking about her participation, Divya Dutta noted that storytelling is where performance becomes most honest, shaped by the bond between teller and listener, adding that the festival offers a rare, meaningful space for stories to be shared through presence and imagination. Festival co-founder Sushmita Singha said the 2026 edition deepens that philosophy by bringing together distinguished voices from across cultures, adding new layers of craft and perspective.
The three-day programme is carefully structured. Day One opens with contemporary, folkloric and satirical narratives featuring Mayur Kalbag, Maia Ganatra, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Rajit Kapur and the Sanjukta Sinha Dance Company. Day Two focuses on legacy and lived histories, anchored by Honours Unveiled, followed by performances from Danish Husain, Colonel R K Sharma, Arif Zakaria and Meiyang Chang with his band. Day Three spans morning and evening sessions, culminating with performances by Mikka Chesron, Prithviraj Choudhury and Divya Dutta, alongside a closing Sufi music performance by Aanchal Srivastav.
Strengthening its digital outreach, Readmio joins as the official digital partner, supporting engagement initiatives and a dedicated children’s stage each morning. The festival will also host its sixth annual storytelling competition for school students, alongside Jamghat, its open talent platform running daily from 3 pm to 5 pm, encouraging participation from first-time performers, students and independent artists.
True to its inclusive ethos, the festival will feature sign-language interpreters, participation from visually impaired students and a performance by inmates from Udaipur Central Jail. Tickets for the 2026 edition will be available on Bookmyshow, starting at Rs 250, inviting audiences to step into a world where stories are heard, not scrolled.
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.
