Hindi
‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ to premiere at 72nd Berlin International Film Festival
Mumbai: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s much-anticipated film “Gangubai Kathiawadi” starring Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn will be screened at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival in February. The screening will also mark the world premiere of the film that is set for theatrical release on 18 February 2022.
“Gangubai Kathiawadi” has been chosen to be screened as part of Berlinale Special, a segment of the film festival which is dedicated to showcasing exemplary cinema. This year’s selections are films that have been shot during the pandemic. “We are happy to premiere Gangubai Kathiawadi and to be continuing the tradition of the Berlin Film Festival being a special setting for Indian movies, this time with a film that joins the usual craft in shaping camera movement and the choreography of bodies with a subject that is socially relevant, also beyond in India,” stated artistic director of Berlin International Film Festival Carlo Chatrian. “From the very beginning we were taken by the story of Gangubai, an exceptional woman dragged into exceptional circumstances.”
As Sanjay Leela Bhansali celebrates 25 years in the world of cinema, this will be his tenth film. “The story of Gangubai Kathiawadi has been very close to my heart. My team and I have given it all to make this dream possible. We take pride and honour in showcasing it at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival,” said Bhansali.
Producer Jayantilal Gada of Pen Studios added, “I believe in Mr. Bhansali and his craft. It gives me great joy that our film will be presented at the Berlin International Film Festival and I am proud to associate with him for it. Alia has given a great performance and I am thankful to Ajay Devgn too for being a part of this project. It’s a story that will engage and appeal to global audiences.”
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.
