Hindi
Adlabs signs deal with Phoenix to build India’s largest multiplex
MUMBAI: After contesting a strong bid against various domestic and international multiplex chains, Adlabs Cinemas has finally stitched a deal with Phoenix Mills to build the largest multiplex cinema in India.
According to the deal, the 140,000 sq. ft. Adlabs multiplex, floating up at Mumbai‘s Phoenix Market City complex in Kurla, will have 15 screens with an overall seating capacity of approximately 4000.
Apart from the construction of regular screens that will showcase the latest releases, Adlabs will also erect the “Adlabs megaplex”, which will screen “popular” sports events and live concerts.
Additionally, the megaplex, the interiors of which are being designed by international designers and architects, will house two luxury screens with adjoining ‘Ebony Lounges‘, to house live band performances round the year.
Adlabs Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra said, “Adlabs‘ commitment has always been to set precedents for new entertainment concepts in the country. We believe that the new Adlabs megaplex will set world benchmarks in terms of design and ambience, technology and overall consumer viewing experience.”
The Rs 11 billion mixed-use complex, spread over 4.5 million sq. ft, will house hypermarket, departmental stores, food courts, entertainment zones and around 400 branded stores.
Phoenix Market City management COO Tony Ward said, “The Kurla project is planned to become a complete consumer destination and a must-see for Mumbai populace and tourists. This is going to be a world-class destination with retail spaces, offices, hotel and multiplex. It will also include a uniquely designed leisure area for people, something which will be entirely new for the city. Because of its central location, the complex will be able to cater to Mumbai‘s western, central and the population from the downtown.”
Also, Market City Management is developing large Market City complexes ranging from 2 to 4 million sq. ft. in 20 other cities in India, that includes metros like Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, and tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Indore, Raipur and Udaipur.
Adlabs Cinemas currently has 170 screens in India, 251 screens in the US and 51 screens in Malaysia.
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.
