Hindi
National Film Board Of Canada, Singapore’s MDA tie up
MUMBAI: The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) took another step forward in its strategy of forging international alliances with public and private filmmaking organisations around the world, with the announcement of a new agreement with the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA).
In their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the NFB and the MDA have agreed to work together on co-productions, education training and technological co-operation.
NFB chairperson Jacques Bensimon says, “Canada and Singapore share a commitment to cultural diversity and to nurturing indigenous voices in cinema. This new agreement between the National Film Board of Canada and the Media Development Authority of Singapore will enable us to work together to promote our shared values – on co-productions, education training and technological co-operation that will strengthen independent cinema in both our countries.”
MDA CEO Dr Christopher Chia says, “The MoU with the NFB builds on the close ties that Singapore and Canada have cultivated over the past few years since the signing of the Audio Visual Co-production Agreement with Telefilm Canada on 13 November 1998. The National Film Board of Canada, as a public producer and distributor of media content will be another key partner for us to collaborate with in facilitating media industry co-productions between Canada and Singapore”.
Under the terms of the agreement, the NFB and MDA have pledged to encourage co-produced projects between Canada and Singapore in the field of animation, documentaries, interactive and experimental films and media initiatives, including innovative digital productions for new platforms. The two organizations also agree to encourage programmes related to training and education in the audiovisual industry as well as the development of emerging technologies. In addition, the NFB and MDA will exchange experiences, strategies and practices in commercial distribution and outreach development.
International partnerships, like the one signed with the MDA, are a priority at today’s National Film Board of Canada. This agreement with the MDA follows the signing of a cultural cooperation programme agreement between the NFB and the Ministry of Culture of Brazil in March 2006.
The NFB also spearheaded the formation of a world educational consortium with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), Film Australia and Discovery Channel Canada to create educational productions for mobile and new digital platforms. In addition, the NFB is a partner in Content 360, joining the British Broadcasting Corporation and Korean Broadcasting Commission to produce new digital content.
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.
