Hindi
UTV ties up with Aamir for two films; distributes JTYJN overseas
MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures has tied up with Aamir Khan Production Pvt Ltd for their two forthcoming films.
The first is Delhi Belly, an action comedy that‘s based in Delhi. The film is being directed by debut director Abhinav Deo and Ranbir Kapoor has been cast as the main lead.
The other film is untitled and will be announced soon. Both have a medium budget, the details of which are still being worked out.
On being contacted, UTV Motion Pictures CEO Sidhartha Roy Kapoor confirmed the news, but refused to divulge further details.
Meanwhile, UTV has bought the overseas distribution rights of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na which will hitting the theatres on 4 July. UTV will be releasing close to 200 prints.
UTV had struck a double film deal with Aamir Khan Productions which included Taare Zameen Par and now Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na.
Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na will, however, be released in Dubai on 3 July because of their different release patterns.
UTV has managed to release three films in Pakistan so far – Goal, Race and Taare Zameen Par.
States Kapoor, “We are looking forward to Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na since TZP did brilliant overseas. The last film got us huge profits.” Since both the films were bought jointly by the company, the figures of the deal were not revealed.
UTV also has the worldwide distribution rights of Tip‘s Kismet Konnection which releases on 18 July. Both Race and Kismet Konnection were jointly bought by UTV for a price of Rs 900 million.
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.
