Hindi
Excel Ent defends itself from Nariman Films’ legal poser
MUMBAI: After Nariman Films, the makers of the the Amitabh Bachchan‘s 1978 hit Don sent a legal notice to Excel Entertainment a few days ago, the legal counsel of the former has stated that the production house has not infringed the copyright of the original film by producing Don 2.
Further, the production house has also stated that it is the bona-fide author and owner of copyright of Don – The Chase Begins Again (Don 1) that has been confirmed by Nariman Films in writing earlier.
Excel is also the owner of the copyrights of Don 2, says the counsel. In 2005, Nariman Films had given rights to Excel Entertainment, in perpetuity, for making
Don – The Chase Begins Again, while Don 2 is a sequel of it.
The entire story and dialogues of Don – 2 is written by Farhan Akhtar and other team members of Excel Entertainment, the title has been approved by AMPTPP in favour of Excel Entertainment.
Excel Entertainment has also clarified that there has been no undue influence on persons of Nariman Films. It also says that Nariman Films, with their malafide intention and having an ulterior motive to extort unjustified and unearned monies from Excel Entertainment, has sent the legal notice, which is baseless and devoid of merits.
The production house has vociferously stated that it shall defend itself and shall not permit Nariman Films to hamper the release of Don-2 under any circumstances whatsoever as its making of Don 2 has been in the public domain since 2009.
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.
