Hindi
MP follows Rajasthan, bans UTV’s Jodhaa-Akbar
MUMBAI:The problems facing UTV‘s Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai starrer Jodhaa-Akbar are spreading. Madhya Pradesh joined the neighbouring state of Rajasthan in banning the film after demonstrations against it by the Rajput community at cinema theatres.
The ban on Jodhaa-Akbar in the two states have essentially killed the film‘s prospects from middle India. If that were not enough, the district administration of Ambala in Haryana state have also imposed a ban on the screening of the film following similar protests by the Rajput organisations.
“The government has suspended the screening of the movie in the (Madhya Pradesh) state with immediate effect as protests at cinema halls have posed a threat to maintenance of peace,” commercial tax department additional secretary DPS Parihar was quoted as saying after the ban was invoked.
In his order banning the screening of the film, Parihar said the decision was taken in accordance to provisions under the Madhya Pradesh Cinema (Regulation) Act, 1952.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, UTV Motion Pictures director Siddharth Roy Kapur said: “Talks are going on with the respective authorities and we expect the film to resume very soon in the theatres.”
There are also some reports that if the ban is not revoked, exhibitors may institute a shutdown in protest. However, there have been no confirmations made from the exhibitors‘ end on this as yet.
“The multiplexes will earn huge revenue losses if such bans keep taking place. Once the films are passed by the censor board there is no reason as to why such incidents should take place. The issue should be taken up at the district or state level depending upon where the ban has taken place,” said Cinemax VP marketing and programming Devang Sampat.
Meanwhile in a text message to Indiantelevision.com, UTV Software Communications CEO Ronnie Screwvalla confirmed that he would be moving the courts if the ban was not revoked.
The film‘s director Ashutosh Gowarikar was quoted as saying, “I am very sad that people are appreciating the movie in cities but the film is not being screened in some places. We are getting a good response from overseas. I want people to watch the film first and then express their views.”
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.
