Hindi
Over 150 films in Mumbai Women Film Festival next month
NEW DELHI: ‘The Grand Seduction’ by Don Mckellar starring Taylor Kitsch (actor of X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Brendon Gleeson (actor of Edge of Tomorrow, Harry Potter, etc) is the opening film of the Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival (MWIFF) commencing from 6 December.
Hosted by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and organised by Oculus Creations, it will continue till 13 December,
The six days of screening will be held at Liberty cinema, Marine Lines; Carnival Cinema, Borivali and Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi.
The festival will be showcasing 152 films judged by Jury members like writer of ‘Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl’ Devika Bhagat, editor of ‘My Name is Khan’ Deepa Bhatia, director of ‘Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge’ Nupur Asthana; Film ‘Bhool bhuliayya’ writer Manisha Korde, the ace ad filmmaker Shivendra Dungarpur and Director and producer Olivier Delahaye from France who has done films like ‘The Wooden Camera’, ‘Nothing But the Truth’, etc.
“We have launched a collection of best films; documentaries, short films and feature films. The 2014 programme with a focus on German cinema will open a whole new corner of the cinematic universe to the audience. The women filmmakers will surely shine on the pink screen’, says Film Department head Ravi Hathalia announcing the schedule.
The festival is also hosting a music concert on 12 December at Liberty Cinema, Marine Lines in association with MTV Indies. The festival will have independent artists and bands that are true to the music in their hearts and mainstream is not something they are drawn to.
Furthermore, the festival is organising Industry Programme Conference that would highlight and provide insights to independent film makers on the most important lessons of ”Breaking In” into the movie business from the perspective of Industry Professionals.
The ‘MWIFF Excellence Awards’ will celebrate the achievements of remarkable women who inspire those around them either through the media or films in their everyday lives.
Apart from awarding the Women who have participated in the festival, the festival will felicitate Bollywood filmmakers from different departments.
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.
