Hindi
52nd edition of IFFI calls for entries for Indian Panorama
New Delhi: The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has announced a call for entries for Indian Panorama, 2021. Indian Panorama is a flagship component of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) under which the best of contemporary Indian films are selected for the promotion of film art.
The 52nd edition of IFFI will be held in Goa from 20 to 28 November.
The last date to submit applications online is 12 August and the last date of the receipt of the hard copy of the online submitted application, along with other requisite documents is 23 August. A set of guidelines have to be followed while submitting films for the 2021 Indian Panorama, said the organisers on Monday.
The date of CBFC or completion of production of the submitted film should be during the last 12 months preceding the festival – 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2021. Films not certified by CBFC and produced within this period can also be submitted. All films must carry English subtitles.
Indian Panorama was introduced in 1978 as part of the International Film Festival of India to promote Indian Films and its rich culture and heritage through Indian films. The Indian Panorama has ever since been completely devoted to showcasing the best of the Indian films of the year.
The aim of the Indian Panorama, organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, ministry of information and broadcasting is to select the feature and non-feature films of cinematic, thematic, and aesthetic excellence, for the promotion of film art through the non-profit screening of these films in international film festivals in India and abroad, Indian Film Weeks held under Bilateral Cultural Exchange Programmes and Specialised Indian Film Festivals outside cultural exchange protocols, and special Indian Panorama festivals in India.
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.
