Hindi
IIFA to honour Rajendra K Pachuari with Global Leadership Award
MUMBAI:International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) will honour Nobel Prize laureate Dr Rajendra K Pachauri with IIFA Global Leadership Award at the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum.
FICCI IIFA Global Business Forum will be held with the objective to enhance the India-Thailand partnership. Heavyweights from Thailand and Indian business fraternity will attend the event and discuss the opportunities in investment, trade, infrastructure, real estate, gems and jewellery, among others.
The business forum will be addressed by Indian ambassador to Thailand Latha Reddy, FICCI SVP Harsh Pati Singhania, and other eminent panellists.
Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar Raj is set to premiere on the first day of the IIFA weekend.
This year the performances in the award function are designed to showcase four movies which will release in the year. The films include Love Story 2050, De Taali, The Mission Istanbul and Acid Factory.
Some of the big stars who will perform in the award function are Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Govinda, among others.
IIFA Fashion Extravaganza is set to take place over the two days and will be hosted by Karan Johar. The Fashion show will witness some of the high profile Indian designers presented by the film stars.
Wizcraft International Entertainment director Sabbas Joseph said, “IIFA promises to create a magical experience. From a serious business forum to glamorous performances and a spectacular IIFA Fashion Extravaganza, no stone has been left unturned in order to deliver the ultimate experience. We are committed to providing the best entertainment to our audiences and IIFA Bangkok will reinforce our vision of bringing people together at the grandest celebration of Indian cinema.”
Star Plus is the official telecast partner of the award function, to be telecast on 29 June. The channel has roped in Idea Cellular as the associate sponsor.
The IIFA Weekend 2008 is being held in association with Gitanjali with support from Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The IIFA Premiere is powered by PVR and the venue partner is Major Cineplex, Bangkok. The IIFA Fashion Extravaganza is presented by Mufti and Audi, in association with Diamursa, Gitanjali Style Fest and co-sponsored by Alta Moda.
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.
