Hindi
New York Film Academy announces expansion in India to keep pace with growth of the indian film industry as well as digital media & entertainment genres
MUMBAI: York Film Academy (NYFA) is one of the leading film schools of the world. It was founded on the philosophy that “learning by doing” combined with best industry practices is more valuable than years of theoretical study for filmmakers and actors. This educational model allows students to achieve more in less time than at all other film or acting schools in the world.
The film school’s programs balance the study of the craft with practical experience to train students to be the best they can be. This is achieved by a rigorous schedule of classroom instruction, hands-on workshops and immediate experience.
NYFA conducts programs at its three full-fledged USA campuses as well as at 16 locations across the globe from Australia to Europe. NYFA has enjoyed immense support from India’s film and entertainment industry. From conducting its first workshop in India in May 2011, NYFA went on to open its doors in Mumbai in 2017.
Over the years many Indian students have been a part of the NYFA campus in New York, Los Angeles and Mumbai. Notable alumni include Kangana Ranaut (of Queen), Gauri Shinde (of English Vinglish) and Rakesh Varre (of Baahubali) among many others.
David Klein, Senior Executive Vice President of New York Film Academy, who has taught filmmaking for over two decades, is visiting from the New York to take classes on film direction and storytelling. He also met with young students in four metros. David Klein said, “New York Film Academy is very excited to be in India. There is immense creative talent amongst the youth. We look forward to working with bright and creative young minds and fostering their talents in the new-age, digital world.The media and entertainment landscape is rapidly evolving and calls for several new skill sets which we are well placed to teach.” He went on to say that the response to NYFA Mumbai has been very encouraging. Salman Khans new discovery, Warina Hussain has just completed an acting program in Mumbai prior to her acting debut.
David Klein added, “In response to demands from students for acting and film making workshops during the summer vacation, NYFA will hold Teen Camps for the first time in India. These programs are very popular in other markets, due to YouTube, social media and OTT platforms which offer huge scope to the youth.It gives us immense pleasure to launch this concept in India.”
NYFA, Mumbai offers various acting and filmmaking workshops and camps for all age ranges where the subject matter covers the entire gamut of production, script writing, technicals and post-production in addition to acting and direction.
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.
