Hindi
Reliance MediaWorks in deal with PE for Rs 6 bn
MUMBAI: Debt-laden Reliance MediaWorks (RMWL), controlled by Reliance ADAG, has agreed to capital infusion of Rs 6.05 billion from an undisclosed international private equity firm.
The company said Wednesday it has signed a term-sheet agreement for a ‘substantial‘ minority stake in its film and media services division.
RMWL runs a cinema exhibition business under Big Cinemas, a TV production unit under Big Synergy, and a film and media services segment.
The company plans to use the funds to cut debt and for expansion. Last year, RMWL had announced plans to raise Rs 5 billion via rights issue to reduce its debt. RMWL‘s debt is over Rs 10 billion and has been a matter of concern for the Anil Ambani-controlled company.
RMWL MD Anil Arjun declined to disclose the name of the private equity fund as the two parties have agreed to exclusivity for the next 90 days.
The proposed investment is subject to completion of customary detailed due diligence, definitive documentation, and completion of subsidiarisation of the film and media services business, and approvals.
Early this year, RMWL board had given the nod to hive off its exhibition and film and media services businesses into subsidiaries.
RMWL has a presence in Film and Media Services; Motion Picture Processing and DI; Film, Audio Restoration and Image Enhancement; 3D; Digital Mastering: Studios and Equipment rentals; Visual Effects; Animation; Broadcast and TVC Post Production with presence across India, USA and the UK.
RMWL had earlier said that it will deepen its presence in the Tamil and Telugu markets to expand its domestic entertainment services portfolio across films, broadcast and television commercials.
The company had reported net loss of Rs 5.18 billion on net sales of Rs 7.98 billion for the fiscal 2011-12.
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.
