Movies
Applause Entertainment strikes gold with ‘Por Thozhil’
Mumbai: Applause Entertainment, known for its quality content, has made an impressive debut into Tamil cinema with, ‘Por Thozhil,’ featuring Sarath Kumar and Ashok Selvan as the unlikely buddy cop duo. Directed by debutant director Vignesh Raja, this gripping investigative thriller has garnered critical acclaim emerging as ‘Mega Blockbuster Hit’, captivating audiences not only in Tamil Nadu but across South India and abroad.
Breaking records and winning hearts, ‘Por Thozhil’ has surpassed expectations, receiving accolades for its compelling storyline, outstanding performances, and impeccable production value. Many have hailed it as one of the ‘finest Tamil thrillers ever made’. Successfully running in theatres even in its fourth week, Por Thozhil is produced by Applause Entertainment in association with E4 Experiments & Eprius Studio.
Applause Entertainment remains committed to delivering captivating stories, and setting new benchmarks for entertainment across genres and formats. With a firm dedication to building a diverse content portfolio across all markets, the studio is poised to create an exciting slate of movies, premium series and documentaries in various languages.
Applause Entertainment managing director Sameer Nair said, “Through ‘Por Thozhil,’ we’ve not only made a remarkable debut into Tamil cinema, we have also forged invaluable partnerships with an incredibly talented and diverse set of individuals. The overwhelming response from audiences and critics alike validates our commitment to creating exceptional content. Our aim is to further expand our unique hub & spoke model that fosters collaboration and creativity with risk and reward, as we continue to create groundbreaking content that resonates with audiences across markets.”
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.
