Movies
Gujarati blockbuster Jhamkudi haunts Hindi screens on ShemarooMe
MUMBAI: Witching hour just struck again, this time in Hindi. After smashing box office records in Gujarati cinema, supernatural horror-comedy Jhamkudi is now ready to spook and tickle audiences across India with its Hindi world digital premiere on ShemarooMe from 18 September 2025.
The film, which stars National award-winner Manasi Parekh and viral comic sensation Viraj Ghelani, has already carved a cult following. Set in the cursed village of Raniwada, it weaves together folklore, frights and funny bones, with a vengeful witch unleashing chaos during Navratri. But unlike your average haunted tale, Jhamkudi balances scares with laugh-out-loud moments, and even a rap-style title track sung by Parekh herself.
Shot inside the 500-year-old Gondal Palace, where whispers of real ghost stories floated through the crew, the film oozes atmosphere and authenticity. directed by Umang Vyas, it boasts a stellar ensemble including Ojas Rawal, Sanjay Goradia, Jayesh More and Bhavini Jani.
Reflecting on the film’s Hindi debut, Parekh said, “We wanted to explore horror-comedy in Gujarati cinema, and the audience response has been overwhelming. Bringing Jhamkudi to a wider audience in Hindi feels like the natural next step: it’s fun, spooky and full of madness.”
Ghelani, who dubbed his own Hindi lines, added, “This film marked my debut and will always be close to my heart. Reliving the character in Hindi was such a joy, and I hope viewers everywhere connect with the humour and thrills.”
With its mix of scares, satire and superstition, Jhamkudi is now spreading Gujarati cinema’s magic beyond borders. For ShemarooMe, it’s another step in making regional blockbusters mainstream, giving India’s diverse stories the stage, and the scares, they deserve.
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.
