Hindi
Film inspired by gang rape victim case in Delhi set for release next month
NEW DELHI: “Tara – The Journey of Love & Passion”, a film inspired by the case of the gang rape victim in Delhi last December, is being released on 12 July after having acclaim at several festivals overseas.
.JPG)
Awnindra Pratap Pandey (Boyfriend of the gang rape victim generally referred to as Nirbhaya) said: “I totally feel for the cause on which this film is based and I am happy that someone has taken the step towards empowerment of Women. I hope this small step would lead to the betterment of the society and provides a message to everyone.”
.JPG)
Speaking a press meet in Delhi, lead actress Rekha Rana said, “I am from Delhi and I was very upset with the Nirbhaya incident. I feel lucky that this film came to me. This is the kind of role I have been looking forward to.”
Producer and Director Kumar Raj said, "I happened to attend one of her (Rekha’s) plays, I had already auditioned more than 300 girls and was in search for leading lady for a very long time.” Impressed with her stage presence, Rekha was called by Kumar for an audition in front of ten people including the writer, out of which nine people voted for her."
This powerful story of self-discovery transcends the original theme of tribal strife to raise a universal question: Can you always choose freedom and self-respect over social acceptance? The journey of the ordinary woman Tara in extraordinary situations reveals the story of love and passion and how she deals with this dilemma.
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.
