Hindi
Cinepolis expands to G. Noida; to invest Rs 800 crore
NEW DELHI: India’s first international and world’s fourth largest movie theatre chain Cinépolis has opened its five-screen multiplex at The Grand Venice Mall in Greater Noida (Delhi NCR). The tally of Cinépolis multiplexes in the city now stands at 29 screens across eight properties in the National Capital Region.
This five-screen Cinépolis property can accommodate up to 851 movie goers, at a time. The theatre will run 22 daily shows, which will comprise a mix of the best of Bollywood, Hollywood and regional content.
Cinépolis is one of the first properties to start operations at The Grand Venice Mall located off the Yamuna Expressway. This, first of its kind mall, is inspired and themed after the picturesque city of Venice, situated 15 minutes from Noida. The Noida and Greater Noida belt is an affluent one, with a huge demand for luxury entertainment.
The seventh organic opening of the year, this brand is steadily adding screens across various cities. With the launch of this latest multiplex in NCR, Cinépolis stands strong at 274 screens across 41 cities in India. Cinépolis has now become the fastest growing multiplex chain across India.
Cinépolis India MD Javier Sotomayor, said, “We have aggressive expansion plans which include investment of up to Rs 800 crore over the next six years. The aim is to become one of the top three players in the Indian exhibition space in the next 3-4 years.”
Cinépolis India director-expansion Ashish Shukla said, “This new cinema will expand our current NCR circuit from 24 to 29 screens. We have 70-plus screens planned to be opened in the Delhi NCR Region in the next couple of years.”
Cinépolis India director–India strategic initiatives Devang Sampat said, “Our theatres are equipped with the best sound and projection systems to provide the most intimate atmosphere for the movie-goers, coupled with RealD 3D technology for best 3D experience.”
Mall owner Satinder Singh Bhasin said, “Cinépolis team has a very clear vision of consolidating its presence in India.”
In future, the exhibition market would consolidate and only three to four big players would remain in the business, according to Sotomayor, quoted in Mint earlier. Cinepolis would continue to add screen in metro markets as well as tier II and III cities. As to whether it would adopt a different strategy for the price sensitive non-metro markets, Sotomayor replied in the negative.
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.
