Hindi
Kamal Haasan to showcase Vishwaroop at IIFA
MUMBAI: Kamal Haasan is all set to showcase excerpts from his film Vishwaroop (Hindi) at the 13th Videocon IIFA Weekend in Singapore this June. The Hindi version, that will be unveiled on 8 June, would give world-media key glimpses from the film.
The film features Haasan in the lead role along with Rahul Bose, Andrea Jeremiah, Pooja Kumar, Jaideep Ahlawat, Samrat Chakrabarti, Zarina Wahab and a special appearance by Oscar nominee, Shekhar Kapur.
Haasan said, “IIFA is one of the biggest events for the Indian Film Industry. This year is particularly special for my film and me; it is a great opportunity to present my film on such a large and international scale. I look forward to unveiling the first look of ‘Vishwaroop‘ and I am hopeful that it will be well received.”
The 13th edition of the IIFAs – the Videocon IIFA Weekend 2012 has been designed keeping in mind the South Indian Diaspora in Singapore. The three days of high-octane entertainment will witness South Indian film celebrities like music prodigy AR Rahman, actress Radikaa SharathKumar, Shreya Saran, Telugu film producer KS Rama Rao, Suresh Babu and Allu Arvind among others.
Observed IIFA Director Andre Timmins, “This year, IIFA has a special treat in store for its Indo-Singaporean fan base. We are pleased that the cream of the South can join us as we celebrate the Videocon IIFA Weekend in Singapore.”
The Videocon IIFA Weekend will be hosted in the Lion City of Singapore from 7-9 June.
IIFA, this year, will include a line-up of mega events like the IIFA World Premiere, IIFA Rocks, the IIFA Film & Music workshop and eventually the IIFA Awards.
The Videocon IIFA Weekend, presented by Videocon Industries, is organised by Wizcraft International Entertainment.
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.
