Hindi
Haasan calls ban on Vishwaroopam in TN cultural terrorism
Mumbai: Actor and filmmaker Kamal Haasan has described the ban on his silver screen extravaganza Vishwaroopam by the Tamil Nadu government as ‘cultural terrorism‘.
The Rs 950 million film was to release on 25 January in around 500 screens in Tamil Nadu alone. According to media reports, “district collectors have been orally instructed to pass appropriate orders and to make sure advance booking is stopped”.
The move came in response to Muslim organisations‘ expressing fear that the “film could disturb communal harmony” after watching a show, specially screened for them, a few days ago.
The film has had its share of controversy in the run up to its release. Earlier the debate around the movie was over Haasan‘s intention to premier launch the movie on Direct-To-Home (DTH). This was thwarted when theatre owners opposed the move reasoning that it would affect their revenues and thus the actor had to launch the film on DTH a week after theatrical release.
The following is the text of Haasan‘s statement:
Dear Friends,
While I am touched by the voices in support for me and my film, I am appalled at how my film is construed to be against my Muslim brothers.
My statements in favour of that community have marked me as a sympathizer. I have always gone beyond the call of my duty as an actor to voice my opinion in favour of what was humane and civil. I have been part of an organization called Harmony India which worked for Hindu Muslim amity.
I am not only hurt by these accusations of denigrating a community but my sensibilities are truly insulted.
I have been ruthlessly used as a vehicle by small groups who seek political profile. Icon bashing is a great way to be noticed when you are not one yourself. It is happenning again and again. Any neutral and patriotic Muslim will surely feel pride on seeing my film. It was designed for that purpose.
Now I will rely on law and logic to come to our support. This kind of cultural terrorism will have to stop.
I thank those who rose to the occasion and to my support on the Internet.
Kamal Haasan
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.
