Movies
hoichoi launches new content arm hoichoi studios
Mumbai: hoichoi, the leading Bengali OTT player, announces its new content wing hoichoi studios, marking its debut in the Bengali entertainment industry. hoichoi under the title hoichoi studios plans compelling stories by expanding its format and medium of storytelling; dedicated to telling stories that are non-episodic through theatrical films.
With the launch and foraying in as a content production hub with hoichoi studios, it plans on curating relatable stories that have traditionally been confined to the web and with the help of hoichoi’s learning of last six years from data as well as from direct user feedback, expand the reach of such stories to other geographies. hoichoi studios outlays the plan and aims to entertain and provide the best big screen experience to the audience with three to five theatrical releases, starting this year.
In addition to this, hoichoi will continue to produce 25-30 original series every year along with bringing forth world premiere movies. hoichoi studios acts as an additional wing in presenting more content for hoichoi’s base of millions of users worldwide.
The celebration of the unveiling of hoichoi studios is doubled with another massive announcement as hoichoi unveils the first project under hoichoi studios – Shri Swapankumar-er Badami Hyena’r Kobole – slated for a theatrical release this Kali Puja. Directed by Debaloy Bhattacharya, and inspired from the famous pulp stories of Shri Swapankumar, the film will feature popular actor Abir Chatterjee in the lead as Deepak Chatterjee, a detective in his novels, along with veteran actor Paran Bandyopadhyay as the writer Swapankumar.
Talking about the launch of hoichoi studios, chief operating officer, Soumya Mukherjee who will also perform responsibilities as a producer for hoichoi studios, said, “With the support of our creators, talents and the entire entertainment industry, we have been able to consistently deliver quality content to our users. The trust of our consumers across geographies is what acted as a catalyst behind the culmination of the hoichoi studios, our new wing. After catering to the audience with over 130 web series, over 20 web films, over 10000 short format content and over 500 acquired films, we wanted to entertain and serve our audience by expanding to a new format. It is exciting to release our film, Shri Swapankumar-er Badami Hyena’r Kobole, this Kali Puja, at your nearest Theatres.”
While mentioning about his first project with hoichoi studios, Shri Swapankumar-er Badami Hyena’r Kobole, Abir Chatterjee, mentioned, “It’s a grand moment for every one of us who are associated with the process of creating content for the entertainment of the mass. I am immensely thrilled to be playing not only the character of Deepak Chatterjee in Shri Swapankumar-er Badami Hyena’r Kobole but also to be a part of the first project for hoichoi studios. I hope hoichoi after being so much loved by the audience in the world of OTT, will garner the same amount of love as it ventures into a new format of storytelling with hoichoi studios.”
Speaking about his directorial venture, Shri Swapankumar-er Badami Hyena’r Kobole creator Debaloy Bhattacharya, said, “The feeling of creating the first content for hoichoi studios itself comes with a lot of excitement. What is adding more to this is to be able to create a Film with such a famous Bengali character who is so full of pulp and thrill, and at the opportunity of presenting Bengal’s first action-based detective content. With hoichoi studios, I am really looking forward to being able to present many such content that tells impactful stories and creates magic on the big screen.”
The shooting of the first project of hoichoi studios, Shri Swapankumar-er Badami Hyena’r Kobole will start this May.
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.
