Hindi
India and Bangladesh to Consider Joint Collaboration on Mega-Film on “War of Liberation”
NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh are to collaborate to jointly produce a film n the War of Liberation of the former east Pakistan and a roadmap in this connection will be drawn up shortly.
Bangladesh Minister for Information & Broadcasting Hasanul Haq Inu today requested his Indian counterpart Manish Tewari that the Government of India consider providing the names of the soldiers who had laid down their lives during the War of Liberation. He reiterated that the Government of Bangladesh would like to recognize their contribution made during this historical event.
The two Ministers had extensive discussions on critical issues related to Information and Broadcasting Sector.
Both the Ministers agreed to explore the possibility of setting up a joint working group on the critical sectors of the information and broadcasting domain to provide a roadmap for future collaborations between the two countries.
The Bangladesh Information Minister also requested Tewari to facilitate the downlinking of Bangladesh TV Channels through the private distribution network into India.
Both Ministers agreed to intensify the collaboration between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh State Television in view of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two entities in 2011. The MoU had focused on mutual cooperation in the broadcast of television programmes between the two broadcasters. It was also mentioned that both countries could consider exchange of programmes and also explore the possibility of executive TV co-production.
Both Tewari and Inu discussed the possibility of strengthening collaboration as far as training and capacity building was concerned between institutions of mutual interests.
During the discussions, the Ministers agreed to facilitate the exchange of archival material between the two countries. In this context, Tewari highlighted the major policy initiatives undertaken by the Ministry that had enabled the sector to grow exponentially.
Specific reference was made to the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry to commemorate 100 years of Indian Cinema, the Digitization programme and the policies that were introduced to promote inclusive growth in the country. Both the Ministers were assisted by senior officials of the Ministries of India and Bangladesh.
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.
