Hindi
Cosmo First elevates Kulbhushan Malik as global business head of its films business
Mumbai: The global business conglomerate Cosmo First on Tuesday announced the elevation of Kulbhushan Malik as the business head for their films business globally. Earlier, he was working as head of operations for international businesses.
He will be responsible for devising strategy on operations and business growth.
Malik brings over 24 years of experience with diverse experience in general management roles with P&L responsibilities, business development and finance roles with a demonstrated record of working in the manufacturing industry.
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Speaking on the announcement, Cosmo First group CEO Pankaj Poddar said, “Kulbhushan has not only been an integral part of Cosmo Films growth but has helped navigate it via his leadership, strategy, and business acumen. I am confident that with Kulbhushan in-charge, Cosmo First will continue to achieve its strategic business goals.”
Commenting on joining his new role, Malik said, “Cosmo has been at the forefront of innovation and manufacturing capabilities in the packaging industry. I look forward to working with the team and leveraging their capabilities to seek challenges and continue to deliver upon our commitment to quality, trust, and innovation with our consumer-centric approach.”
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.
