Hindi
Ad Guru Turns Reel Hero with Mythical Thriller for the Masses
MUMBAI: From 30-second ad epics to full-length cinematic spectacle Prasoon Pandey is finally making the leap, and it’s nothing short of mythic. Prasoon Pandey, one of the most celebrated names in Indian advertising, is stepping behind the camera for his feature film debut, a massy, contemporary mythological thriller backed by Movieverse Studios and Ellipsis Entertainment. Known globally for his award-winning commercials, Pandey now swaps storyboards for the silver screen, bringing with him decades of visual flair and narrative punch.
Written by Vaibhav Vishal, the yet-untitled film blends cultural depth with modern storytelling, and promises to push genre boundaries with its unique tone and scale.
“This isn’t just a directorial debut, it’s a long-overdue cinematic event,” said Movieverse owner IN10 Media Network MD Aditya Pittie. “We’ve waited for a story that matched Prasoon’s legendary vision. This one had him hooked and us too.”
Pandey, who has 17 Cannes Lions, Clio, and D&AD awards to his credit, is the first Asian to feature on Campaign Magazine’s 100 most influential advertising filmmakers list. “I wasn’t going to do a film just for the sake of it. This script hit differently,” he said. “It stayed with me, long after I’d read it. That’s when I knew this is the one.”
Movieverse Studios CEO Vivek Krishnani echoed the excitement: “We’re committed to cinematic storytelling that stirs the soul and stuns the eye. With Prasoon and Ellipsis on board, this film promises both.”
The film also marks another milestone for Ellipsis Entertainment, whose partners Tanuj Garg and Atul Kasbekar have a knack for scouting offbeat-yet-relatable stories. “Prasoon’s been a friend and a creative icon. It took us years and many scripts but we’re thrilled this is the one that finally got a yes,” said Kasbekar.
Comparisons with ad-filmmaker-turned-directors like Ram Madhvani and Suresh Triveni are inevitable, but Pandey’s visual grammar and storytelling signature remain in a league of their own.
Casting is currently underway, and the makers promise a stellar ensemble to match the story’s ambitious canvas.
For now, one thing is certain: when an ad legend like Prasoon Pandey steps into the world of cinema, the lines between art, mass appeal, and mythology are about to blur in the best possible way.
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.
