Movies
Maharashtra govt orders multiplexes to allocate primetime slot for Marathi films
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has issued a directive to all multiplexes in the state to screen at least one Marathi language movie at their properties in the prime time slot of 6 – 9 pm.
Home Minister RR Patil was quoted in a DNA report saying, “Hereafter, it will be mandatory for all 27 multiplexes in Mumbai to give Marathi cinema prime time slots. The permission for new multiplexes will be sanctioned only if they dedicate a separate screen entirely to Marathi cinema.”
The move comes in a bid to give a fillip to the state’s Marathi film industry. Actor Riteish Deshmukh, who made his Marathi film debut with Lai Bhaari, took to Twitter to welcome this news.
It may be noted that the BJP government has also made it mandatory for theatres to play the national anthem as well as a song that honours the father of Indian cinema – Dadasaheb Phalke.
The order, issued by Culture Minister Vinod Tawde on Tuesday, also mentioned that the word ‘Bombay’ will be replaced with ‘Mumbai’ in all the 199 occurrences in the laws on culture and entertainment.
It may be recalled that the Maharashtra government led by Devendra Fadnavis had recently offered benefits to private players to make Marathi language films.
A Delhi based advocate Ishkaran S. Bhandari tweeted, “Doubt whether Govt order of 6-9 pm time slot only for Marathi movie in multiplex is Constitutionally Valid. Should be violative of 19(1)(g).”
It remains to be seen how the exhibition industry reacts to this bit of news.
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.
