Hindi
Dubai’s ‘Rajmahal’ to witness broadway-style ‘Jaan-e-Jigar’
MUMBAI: The only Bollywood theatre at Bollywood Parks Dubai, Rajmahal Theatre, has announced the release of a musical. Called Jaan-e-Jigar, the 120-minute extravaganza will be set in a broadway-style show with a unique twist.
The musical is a fantasy tale of two brothers named Jaan and Jigar, in a classic story of good vs evil. The story explores a larger than life world, full of magic, drama, music, dance, color and all things Bollywood. It is strung together with Bollywood hits, including an original soundtrack created for the show.
It is created in collaboration with Wizcraft International Private through which several actors, dancers, singers and acrobats were auditioned from across India to be a part of the musical. The versatile entertainers were hand-picked to showcase their talent to the millions of visitors who will attend the shows at the Rajmahal Theatre.
Bollywood Parks Dubai general manager Thomas Jellum showed his excitement and pride with the first broadway-style Bollywood musical to the Middle East, and the decision to showcase it at the Rajmahal Theatre.
The region’s first musical will have all the makings of a Bollywood blockbuster, with romance, drama, action, magic and brilliant performances with foot tapping music that promises to captivate audiences like never before.
Taking its inspiration from the beautiful palaces and intricate architectural designs in India, the Rajmahal Theatre, is a stunning 850-seater arena that will play the separately ticketed musical several times a week.
Jellum added, “As the region’s first resident show, we have partnered with the best in Bollywood show business, to ensure every element seen on stage embodies the cinematic experience. I am looking forward to see you all at the show very soon.” The ticket details will be announced soon.
Scheduled to open this year, Bollywood Parks Dubai is part of Dubai Parks and Resorts which will also feature Motiongate Dubai, a unique theme park showcasing some of Hollywood’s most beloved characters from DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Studios and Lionsgate as well as the region’s first Legoland Park and a Legoland Water Park.
The entire destination will be connected by Riverland Dubai – a retail and dining destination at the heart of Dubai Parks and Resorts, and guests can stay at the Lapita Hotel, a Polynesian themed family hotel part of the Marriott Autograph Collection.
Expected to open in late 2019, Six Flags Dubai will be destination’s fourth theme park and the region’s first Six Flags theme park.
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.
