Hindi
Dev Anand memorial planned
MUMBAI: A Dev Anand Memorial has been planned in the newly reconstructed Anand Studio at Pali Hill, Bandra.
Anand, who was never found without a muffler around his neck and a pen in his hand, will now be immortalised through the many things he made popular in a one of its kind. The memorial will house the legend‘s personal belongings along with the many film manuscripts, props, posters, slides among many other things.
Suniel Anand said, “We do plan to preserve all the valuable memories… everything that was close to his heart. My father had an obsession for hats and pens. It was a part of his style statement. He was very fond of writing and he loved collecting pens of which he had a huge collection.”
Apart from hats and pens, the evergreen star was also fond of scarves, sun glasses, jackets and watches. Observed Suniel, “He used to wear Tissot watches regularly. Those will be a part of the display in the memorial. A lot of his written work will also be a part of it. We want fans to know and understand the professional and personal Dev Anand.”
Apart from building the memorial for his father, Suniel will also be completing his last project – the remake of Hare Rama Hare Krishna.
Talking about the memorial, he further added, “My father had a fetish for hats and pens. It was a part of his style statement. He was very fond of writing and he loved collecting pens. He had a huge collection.”
The memorial is expected to be opened for visitors after 10 months.
Meanwhile, Suniel has also planned to re release Guide as part of his respect to his father. Speaking about the decision to re-release the film, he said, “An American company has restored Guide. It‘s being converted to wide screen and we will do a fresh soundtrack maybe in the Czech Republic. “It‘s a big, big responsibility. The world is watching me. I will have to live up to their expectations.”
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.
