Hindi
Sibal scribes lyrics for a Dilli Gang
Minister Kapil Sibal’s penchant for writing poems is well-known. He has now penned the lyrics for a Bollywood film based on the life of senior citizens. And will also appear on screen reciting his lines.
After publishing a book of SMS poems, reciting his composition Aankh khuli aazad thi main as a tribute to women at the Star Parivaar Awards, taking on the murky side of IPL through writing, Sibal, through his poem, expresses his view on the issue of senior citizens’ safety in upcoming film Dilli Gang, which is based on true instances of crime against senior citizens, who sometimes get robbed or murdered when their children leave them.
With a special poem composed for the film, which he recites in the beginning and towards the end of the movie, Sibal urges people to be compassionate towards their ageing parents. Karenge jo maa baap ki seva, Bhagwan unke saath rahega…, is what Sibal will be seen and heard saying in Dilli Gang.
Talking about his compositions and poems, Sibal says social issues are his favourite subjects. “I have written poems on multiple social issues, especially on daughters. When the director and producer told me that the movie is about old people, I agreed to write a poem immediately. These topics touch my heart. The cultural transformation in our society, where children don’t respect parents and refuse to look after them, is a major issue to be addressed besides women’s safety,” he says.
Sibal plans to continue his Bollywood innings. “Cinema is a medium which reflects the reality in society and is trying to raise hope. For people who think for the betterment of the society and want to express their views, Bollywood is the right channel. I am going to do more of this work,” he ends.
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.
