Hindi
Inox to enter into film distribution
MUMBAI: Inox Leisure Ltd, has announced its entry into film distribution.
The company has acquired exclusive distribution rights to heavyweight titles such as Garam Masala, Rang De Basanti, Family, Jaaneman, Apharan and Kyonki for the Bengal, Mysore and Rajashtan territories.
Inox CEO Manoj Bhatia says, “We feel the time is just right for INOX Leisure Ltd. to enter the distribution segment. Given our success with exhibition, this is a natural extension of our business.
“Operating a distribution company will give us greater control over the supply chain and bring us one step closer to an integrated set up. Inox has an impeccable track record and is highly regarded by customers, the film industry, investors, business institutions and the banking sector for bringing about greater transparency and professionalism to the cinema industry in India.”
Aroon Sharma will head the distribution set up of Inox, which will have distribution offices in Kolkatta, Jaipur and Bangalore.
In the first phase, the company has invested close to Rs 50 million to bring in titles like Garam Masala (Akshay Kumar, John Abraham), Rang De Basanti (Aamir Khan), Family (Amitabh Bacchhan, Akshay Kumar), Jaaneman (Salman Khan, Priety Zinta), Apharan (Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar) and Kyonki (Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor).
While, in the second phase, the company will look at international content from International markets, informs the official release.
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.
