Hindi
Prakash Jha commands an army of 24 ADs for his latest, Satyagraha
MUMBAI: Prakash Jha, known for his multi-starrers tackling grave and social issues has set a new benchmark with his upcoming political thriller Satyagraha, by roping in 24 assistant directors on the sets. In his previous take on politics, Raajneeti he helmed a team of 18 hands working as Assistant directors.
Like his previous multi starrers, Satyagraha too has an extensive cast including stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpai and Kareena Kapoor. The movie has been shot in Bengal with various outdoor locations, which apparently is why he needs not just one or two assistant directors but an entire team to aid him for not just filming but also for ensuring crowd control and the sprawling crowd of people captured in the shots.
As per sources revealing to the Times of India, "This is the biggest team Prakash has had so far. Many of the team members are juniors, who are also part of the filmmaking process. As far as the Bhopal schedule is concerned, a lot of preparation has gone into it."
Satyagraha is reportedly inspired by the current Indian political scenario and depicts the uprising of the the middle class against the corrupt system.
There have also been rumors that Amitabh‘s character is a portrayal of the social activist Anna Hazare following Gandhian principles while Devgn‘s role is similar to the activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal, keeping aside all speculations, Jha has maintained that Satyagraha is a political thriller revolving around the father and son relationship and dealing with twisted democratic issues.
Saytyagraha is co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Prakash Jha and Siddharth Roy Kapur. The movie is still under production and is slated to hit the theatres on 23 August 2013.
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.
