Hindi
‘Befikre’ in France: Ambasssador applauds Yashraj
NEW DELHI: French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler has applauded Yashraj Films for shooting almost the entire ‘Befikre’ in France and said the film “makes the most of the stunning locales of France, highlighting why, year after year, it’s the world’s top tourist destination as well as a favourite for romantic holidays and film shoots.”
Ahead of the worldwide release of “Befikre” on 9 December in collaboration with Yashraj Films, the ambassador hosted a very special soirée with Diva’ni creative director Sanya Dhir at his residence. The film stars Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor.
“I’m delighted that Befikre was shot almost entirely in France and availed of the French Film Commission’s excellent incentives. I wish to extend invitation to Indian filmmakers to shoot their films in France.”
Shot entirely in Paris as well as in Cannes and Picardie, Befikre is steeped in the Parisian spirit of romance and celebrates sensual, carefree love. Under the vision of Yashraj chairman Aditya Chopra who is famous for his landmark romantic movies, Paris becomes synonymous with Befikre’s contemporary love story.
The Residence of France came alive with the spirit of Befikre as the vibrant evening saw Ranveer and the beautiful Vaani give a scintillating performance to the film’s song, “Khulke Dulke.” The duo, dressed in exquisitely designed Diva’ni couture, also sashayed down the ramp for the dazzling launch of “The Ivory Kiss”, Spring-Summer 2017 couture collection of Diva’ni, which designed the actors’ costumes for the film as well.
Partnered by Pullman Aerocity, Accor, Atout France and Air France, the soirée was an ode to the film and the French art de vivre that permeates it.
Yashraj VP marketing and merchandising Manan Mehta said, “Our intent is always to provide the best of fashion and cinema to our audience and customers. Both our brands, Befikre and Diva’ni, found Khulke Dulke song as the synergy between two creative products. Both are a perfect match made in Bollywood and as YRF Merchandising, we are proud of that.”
Dhir said, “It’s surreal how things just come together and make perfect sense. The architecture, the mosaic floors, the fish scaled ceilings if on one hand formed the core of the artworks. The international runway set the mood for these silhouettes. We wanted to bring in the opulence, our love for Paris, the rooted Indian craftsmanship sprinkled with carefree joys of love and life. This collection is for the young at heart, bold in mind and for the ones who know how to live life carefree!”
Befikre is a story that celebrates being carefree in love. A quintessential Delhi boy Dharam (Ranveer) comes to Paris for work. He bumps into a wild, free-spirited, French-born Indian girl Shyra (Vaani).
A feisty romance ensues two in which both of their personalities — one being an equal match for the other are tested to the limit. Both realise that love is a leap of faith that can only be taken by those who dare to love.
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.
