Hindi
OSO and Saawariya neck-to-neck
MUMBAI: As the race to the finish hots up, the advance booking figures of the two Diwali releases look promising. Multiplex owners are gung-ho about the opening day collections. After all the long drawn out negotiations have resulted in a win-win situation for both the distributors and the multiplexes.
As Saawariya has had a head-start by having opened bookings on Sunday, it will take a lead on the first few days. But insiders say that Om Shanti Om will definitely catch up.
Devang Sampat Marketing VP Cinemax is excited with the Saawariya collections so far. “We opened bookings on Sunday and all are properties have registered 50 per cent bookings. As for Om Shanti Om the bookings began only this morning and people have already started coming in. In fact both the films are showing very good on-line bookings.”
Telephonic as well on-line bookings for both the films are also picking up.
What could be really interesting to watch is how the box office fares in the second and third week as by then the hype surrounding both the films would have somewhat died down.
The marketing strategies for both the films have been unique and all touch points have been tapped. This is one the reasons that is drawing cinegoers to theatres in the first week. Over the years Diwali releases have proved to be good box office grossers and one hopes that these two films bring good cheer this festive season.
Tushar Dhingra, COO Adlabs is a happy man. “The advance bookings have been very encouraging. It is going to be the biggest weekends of the year. If you see the amount of marketing and promotions behind both the films as well as the track records of both the directors the films are set for a good response. Adlabs Cinemas has a very solid advance booking at all our 35 locations and 111 screens. The smaller cities are doing well too,” says an excited Dhingra.
For Fun Republic Cinemas Saawariya has grossed 70-80 per cent by way of advance bookings across all their screens informs Bhumika Tiwari, Programming Head. “Om Shanti Om has recorded 90-100 per cent bookings for the weekend. In fact we have nothing to sell in some of our theatres. Weekends do look good for both the films. Even in the smaller cities like Agra, Panipat, Lucknow and Gulbarga we are doing good business.”
Looks like a Happy Diwali for all.
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.
