Hindi
Long tail of film distribution gets boost by digital technology
MUMBAI: The LA India Film Council, in association with the Center for Content Protection (CCP), hosted a panel discussion on The Long Tail Of Film Distribution and The Role Of Technological Protection Measures (TPMS) in conjunction with FICCI’s 4th MEBC in Chennai, India.
Motion Picture Dist. Association (MPDA) India managing director Uday Singh said, “The long tail is really happening. It‘s facilitated and enabled by digital technology. However it‘s essential that policy makers understand the need to create a proper infrastructure, which includes protection and security, transparent market access, and weeding out content theft.”
Films make most of their financial returns during the initial weeks of their release. However, theatrical is not the only return-on-investment for films given the emergence of Pay TV and other business models on platforms such as IPTV, mobile, packaged media and internet.
India’s National Telecom Policy 2011 envisions providing high speed and high quality broadband access to all village panchayats through optical fiber by the year 2014. The government intends to provide affordable and reliable broadband on demand by the year 2015 and to achieve 175 million broadband connections by the year 2017 and 600 million by the year 2020 at minimum 2 Mbps download speed. This paves the way for emerging business models and the need for content protection measures that are critical for the feasibility of these new delivery channels.
A special Council publication commissioned by Ernst & Young titled ‘Monetizing Your Content In A Digital World’ was unveiled on this occasion. The report focuses on the changing nature of media and entertainment consumption and the impact that these trends are having on Media and Entertainment companies’ digital strategies and how these companies are tailoring their products and service strategies to meet the increasing consumer demands for content anywhere, anytime and in any form.
“As distribution gets digitised, content choice for the consumer increases manifold leading to fragmented media landscape. Successful digital monetization, in a fragmented landscape, depends on sharp customer targeting, providing enhanced value in entertainment experiences and seamless integration of targeted advertising micropayment mechanisms. Media owners who rework their business models based on these parameters will be valued in the future,” commented Ernst & Young Segment Champion Digital Media Raghav Anand.
The panel further discussed the role of TPMS in the above scenario and went on to chart the road ahead for India. “There is so much potential for Indian films worldwide. With technologies many more communities worldwide can enjoy Indian movies after their theatrical release. We explored the most current aspects of digital distribution and technologies in our panel,” said Isa Seow, Managing Director, CCP.
Technology and accompanying digital rights are central in enabling new business models that meet consumer needs. Joining the panel were industry experts such as Krishnan Rajagopalan, Head of Technology, Group Digital Life, Singtel, Ankan Biswas, Chairman, Digital Broadcast Council, Consumer Electronics Appliances Manufacturers Association, Paul Jackson, Chief Engineer, NDS, Dr. Nagendra .S, Head -Sales and Strategy, Ignis Technology Solutions.
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.
