Hindi
Coffin Maker to premiere at the River To River Florence festival
The much awaited announcement of the Indian Panorama bouquet for IIFI Goa 2013 has been declared and the life changing film Coffin Maker, starring Nasseruddin Shah, Randeep Hooda and Ratna Shah, was in the forefront of the short listed film for the prestigious panorama section.
Directed by ad film maker Veena Bakshi, Coffin Maker has been short listed among the 210 films that were eligible for entries by the nine member jury. Nasseruddin is in super form with his acting prowess that is being touted as a must see film for every Indian for its theme.
The film is just not high on content but also have actors known for their real portrayal. So besides Shah, the film has a diverse cast that includes Ratna Pathak Shah, Benjamin Gilani, Amit Sial, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, Shilpa Shukla, who have substantially contributed in the excellence of its execution under the direction and vision of Bakshi.
Producer Bharat Vijan of Shree Narayan Studios is ecstatic as the film is doing really well at the festivals. Just a few weeks back the film was selected to premiere at the prestigious River To River Florence festival, as well as Rome.
A visibly excited Bharat said: “I am truly overjoyed as the debut film from my studio is doing really well. Every member of the star cast is a true professional in their own right and have given their best performance for this film. Nassersaab is a true genius, and his acting prowess has been the force behind this wonderful film. My wife Ambika and I feel truly justified in backing this high concept content-driven entertaining film. It has got a universal appeal and though the setting is a reflection of the lifestyle of Goa, it is a reflection of life itself.”
The film represents cinema that inspires! Set against the authentic and seductive spirit of a Goan Village, Coffin Maker is a poignant tale about a reluctant Coffin Maker who learns about life from a very unusual and mysterious source.
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.
