Hindi
Biopic to be released on Vijay Sankeshwar titled “Vijayanand”
Mumbai: A biopic about Padma Shri awardee, Vijay Sankeshwar, the owner of the commercial vehicles fleet VRL Group of companies, is set to be released.
The film ‘Vijayanand’, directed by Rishika Sharma, stars Nihal R, Bharath Bopanna, Anant Nag, Ravi Chandran, Prakash Belawadi, Siri Prahalad, Vinaya Prasad, Archana Kottige and Anish Kuruvilla, among others.
Sharma previously directed the film Trunk,’ which starred Nihal. The film, which was made on a shoestring budget, performed exceptionally well at the box office, making it one of the most beneficial films of 2018.
‘Vijayanand’ will also be VRL Film Productions’ debut production venture, and the Kannada film will have a pan-India release with dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.
Sharma said, “Nihal came up with the idea of making a film on Vijay sir’s life and once we started doing our research, we understood it is a huge responsibility to bring out his story for the world. His journey is truly inspiring and we are truly grateful that Anand sir (Anand Sankeshwar) understood our vision and not only gave permission but also is backing the film as a producer.”
Vijay Sankeshwar began his entrepreneurial journey in Hubli, Karnataka, and now owns the VRL Group of companies. He co-founded the company with his son, Anand Sankeshwar. He is also the owner of the Kannada newspaper Vijaya Vani and the Dighvijaya 24×7 news channel.
The government of India awarded Vijay Sankeshwar the Padma Shri in 2020.
Music composer Gopi Sundar, has composed music for Vijayanand. Keertan Poojary did the cinematography and Hemanth did the editing. Sharma created the artwork and costumes herself.
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.
