Hindi
Court permits private Pak channels to show Indian films
MUMBAI: A Pakistani court has permitted private television channels having valid licences to show Indian movies as per their conditions of agreement with Pakistan’s regulator. In its October 2016 order, PEMRA had banned Pakistani private channels being operated through cable network from airing the Indian content.
According to PTI, the Lahore High Court chief justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah yesterday permitted private television channels in the light of the report put by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) before the court.
Shah passed the interim order on a petition that was filed by Leo Communication challenging the ban on telecast of Indian content on cable television network. Channels, the report stated, could be allowed to run Indian films as per clause 7.2 (ii) of License Establish & Operate Satellite TV Broadcast Channel Station.
Petitioner’s counsel Taffazul Rizvi argued that the channels should also be allowed to telecast Indian plays as they also come under the definition of ‘entertainment’ under the licence agreement with PEMRA. A PEMRA law officer contended, seeking time to establish that ‘entertainment’ does not include ‘Indian plays’. He said the channels were allowed to run Indian films as per terms of their licence agreements with PEMRA.
When Indian movies were being screened in cinemas in Pakistan, Justice Shah had earlier observed, what justification the government/PEMRA had to ban them on TV. The court then adjourned the hearing till 2 March.
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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.
