Hindi
Indian Film Company in 3 co-production deals
MUMBAI: The Indian Film Company Limited (TIFC) has stitched three co-production deals as part of its movie ramp up programme. The lineup includes a movie with Abbas Mustan titled Life Partner while Arshad Warsi is making I Believe in Angels and Road Movie is with Dev Benegal. TIFC is a specialist film investment firm where TV18 Group has substantial interest. While Life Partner starring Govinda, Fardeen Khan and Tusshar Kapoor is being directed by Rumi Jaffrey, I Believe in Angels is being directed by Kabir Kaushik. “Road Movie will be directed by Dev Benegal and currently we are working on the cast and crew of the film,” said India International Film Advisors CEO Sandeep Bhargava. Furthermore, the company had entered into a co-production deal with Kaleidoscope Entertainment for a two-film deal, with working titles Lajjo and Baby. TIFC has also acquired the satellite rights for seven films that include released films namely Showbiz, Superstar, The Train and Agar and yet to be released films namely Bhootnath, Khela and Karma & Holi. The company has acquired the worldwide distribution rights of the film Shortkut – The Con is On from Anil Kapoor Films Company. The film is directed by Neeraj Vohra and stars Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi and Amrita Rao. The film is scheduled to release in the second half of fiscal year ‘09. TIFC has also acquired the domestic theatrical and satellite rights for Aamir Khan‘s only release in 2008, Gajini. The film is directed by A.R. Murgadoss, has music by AR Rehman and is a remake of the Tamil film, also called Gajini. TIFC has signed talent agreements with three directors namely Sanjay Ghadvi, David Dhawan and Abbas Mustan. TIFC and Sanjay Ghadvi have planned to commence shooting of their first film by Q2 of fiscal year 2010 and that of the second film by Q2 of fiscal 2011. Sanjay Ghadvi is currently directing Kidnap produced by Shree Ashtivinayak which has been acquired by TIFC for worldwide distribution. The company has signed David Dhawan to direct one film, tentatively scheduled to release in December 2010. In addition, TIFC is also co-producing David Dhawan‘s next film, a sequel to Partner named Tom and Jerry which is being co-produced with Sohail Khan Productions starring Salman Khan, Govinda and Lara Dutta. Director duo Abbas Mustan will be directing one film for the company, tentatively planned for release in Q1 of fiscal year 2010. The company had earlier sold the worldwide distribution rights of Halla Bol, a co-production with Sunrise Pictures and directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi. The film was released on 11 January 2008.
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.
