Hindi
IMPPA sets shooting guidelines in Maharashtra
MUMBAI: The Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA) has written a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray about resuming shoots of films, TV serials and web originals with proper SOP in place.
This document suggests steps to be adopted to avoid contagion during shoots. It notes down detailed precautionary measures that will be followed by the cast and crew after the permission is granted.
The report talks about carrying out a daily drill session with the staff members so that it should be implemented in a proper manner. Crew, artists, technicians and participants will have to report 45 minutes before the shoot. Complete studio will be sanitised daily before the shoot.
Floor markings need to be in place so that people maintain social distance. Going forward priority will be given to portable chairs over standard benches.
The report suggests no physical greetings, handshakes, hugs and kisses and amongst other measures.Wearing triple layer masks and gloves is mandatory. Infact, an alternative to face masks is also provided. “A protective half mask with inhalation and exhalation filter will ensure lower costs, as the number of filming days will gradually increase. It would be specifically worn by actors and crew members having a negative Covid2019 test.”
Lightman or anyone handling other equipment has to be provided industrial hand gloves with proper training about their usage. Construction department and other designated individuals must wear protective gloves. Crew members leaving the filming location (e.g. production, drivers or runners, etc.) must be equipped with protective gloves to prevent contamination of the filming area.
A main element of the report is the hair and make-up protocol. Artists will remain in their rooms until required on set. Hair and make-up personnel will be wearing masks and gloves, which will be mandatory to wear during the entire shoot.
The guideline recommends single-use or disposable items; cleaning of hair wigs/ extensions before and after use; use of own make-up; and, most importantly, using a face shield, rather than a mask, once make-up has been applied.
The guild has also advised production units to avoid crew above the age of 60 years at least for three months from the date of shooting as and when it starts and cast above the age of 60 years should be judicially used.
As far as costumes used on the sets are concerned, the guild suggested that “every talent will use clothes allocated to him/her and they can never exchange clothes without having them properly disinfected beforehand.” In case of stuntmen, specialists and precision drivers they are to use their own clothes.
More importantly, every daily wage worker has to be paid their wages daily.
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.
