Hindi
PVR eyes 500 screens by 2015, 100 to be in smaller towns
MUMBAI: PVR Ltd. plans to have 500 screens by 2015 as it steps up plans to expand in smaller towns.
“Out of this, around 100 screens would be set up in smaller towns and cities,” said PVR Ltd. chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli.
As part of this aggressive expansion strategy, the multiplex chain operator has launched its first PVR Talkies model in Madhya Pradesh. Soon after launching a four-screen multiplex at Jalandhar in Punjab, PVR Ltd. has launched its 3-screen multiplex, PVR Talkies, at Treasure Bazaar Mall in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
With this launch, PVR has 173 screens in 40 cinemas across 24 cities in India.
The new multiplex is spread across an area of 27, 254 sq ft, with a capacity of 821 seats. Considering the needs and preferences of the inhabitants of Ujjain, PVR has promised to provide an “unmatched movie experience and hygienic environment with basic facilities” at attractive pricing ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 120.
Bijli said, “We are pleased to announce the launch of our first PVR Talkies model in Madhya Pradesh after our successful run as a mainstream cinema in Indore. The launch has been planned keeping in mind the growing needs of the discerning audience in tier II & III cities for a quality cinema viewing experience.”
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.
