Hindi
Patwardhan’s ‘Jai Bhim, Comrade’ bags Best Film Award for Producer at MIFF
New Delhi: Two films from India and one film each from the United Kingdom and Romania have bagged top honours in the International Competition Section of the Mumbai Intrnational Film Fetival for Documentary, Short and animation films which concluded in Mumbai today.
The Golden Conch, Silver Conch and other Trophies and Certificates were presented to the winners at the valedictory function of the Mumbai International Film Festival at NCPA in the presence of Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, S Jagatrakshakan.
In the International Competition, Nitin Kumar Pamnani’s film ‘I am Your Poet’ won the Best Documentary Film (up to 40 minutes duration) award comprising the Golden Conch and Rs 500,000 in cash. Pamnani’s film in Hindi and Bhojpuri is about the poetry of Rama Shankar Yadav ‘Vidrohi.’
‘Shape of the Shapeless’ by the New York-based film maker Jayant Cherian was adjudged the second Best short Film with Silver Conch and Rs 250,000 in cash.
Kim Longinotto’s ‘Pink Saris’ won the Golden Conch for Best Documentary Film above 40 minutes duration. The British film maker’s documentary tells the story of the ‘Gulabi Gang’ which is active in Uttar Pradesh, empowering women.
The Silver Conch for Best Documentary above 40 minutes duration is shared by ‘Dreaming Taj Mahal’ by Nirmal Chandar and the Russian entry ‘Home’ by Olga Maurina.
The Golden Conch for Best Fiction film went to ‘Music in the Blood’ by Alexandru Mavrodineanu from Romania.
Anand Patvardhan’s ‘Jai Bhim Comrade’ won the Best Film of the Festival Award for Producer. The award carries a prize money of Rs 200,000
Anand Tharane and Krunal Rawal won the Golden Conch in the Best Animation Film Category for ‘Prince’. The film is about a taxi named Prince and how it finds outdated when new sedans arrive on the streets of Mumbai.
The International Jury Award was shared between two films, Moni Bency’s ‘Mahashwetadevi – Close-up’ and Mamta Murty’s Fried Fish, Chicken Soup and Premier Show dealing with the alternative cinema tradition in Manipur.
Pankaj Johar’s ‘Still Standing’ has won the Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Award for Best Debut film as a Director. The award instituted by the Government of Maharashtra comprises a trophy and Rs 100,000 in cash.
The Indian Competition Section was reintroduced during MIFF 2012 to promote and encourage the Indian documentary film makers.
Rajesh Jala’s Hindi Bhojpuri documentary ‘At the Stairs’ won the Best Documentary Film Award fetching him the Golden Conch and Rs 500,000 in cash. The film examines the lives of widows in Banaras seeking Moksha – liberation from the cycle of life and death.
Ashwin Kumar’s ‘Inshah Allah, Football’ is the second best Documentary winning the Silver Conch..
Tuhinabha Mazumdar’s ‘Midnight Bioscope’ was adjudged the Best Fiction Film winning the Golden Conch. The film is based on Ismat Chubhtai’s controversial short story ‘Lihaf’ about the sexual awakening of a young girl.
Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT)’s production’s ‘Journey to Nagaland’ by Aditi Chitre won Golden Conch for the Best Animation Film.
FTII entry One, Two by Prantik Basu won the Indian Jury Award worth Rs 250,000 in cash.
Amalan Datta’s film on the unique democratic structure of a remote Himalayan village, ‘One Day Ahead of Democracy’ got the Special Mention Documentary Certificate.
The film by Anup Satyam ‘A Dream called America’ got the IDPA Trophy plus Rs 100,000 in cash for the Best Student Film.
In all, 101 films including 41 films in the International Section were in competition during MIFF 2012
The International Competition Jury was made up of David Bradbury of Australia, Sayoko Kinoshita of Japan, Michael Glawogger of Australia, N Manu Chakravarthy of India and Beena Paul of India.
The Indian Competition Jury comprised Kumar Shahani, Reena Mohan, B Narsing Rao, Adela Peeva of Bulgaria and Stefanie Dinkelbach of Ireland.
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.
