Hindi
Reliance MediaWorks wins joint bid for James Cameron’s Digital Domain Media Group
MUMBAI: Reliance MediaWorks (USA) has won a joint bid with China‘s Galloping Horse America to acquire James Cameron backed Digital Domain Media Group‘s Mothership Media and certain other businesses and assets of Digital Domain Productions, and subsidiaries for $30.2 million.
Galloping Horse America will hold 70 per cent stake while Reliance MediaWorks will have a 30 per cent stake in the Digital Domain joint venture. The sale is subject to execution of an asset purchase agreement and Bankruptcy Court approval, the hearing for which is scheduled for 24 September.
Searchlight Capital Partners had submitted a stalking horse bid for the Digital Domain and Mothership assets in the amount of $15 million.
DDMG filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on 11 September.
Galloping Horse-Reliance will acquire all assets constituting the businesses of Digital Domain and Mothership feature film and advertising visual effects, commercial production and virtual humans, studios in California and Vancouver, BC, Canada and a co-production stake in the feature film Ender‘s Game.
Pursuant to section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, Galloping Horse – Reliance will acquire these assets free and clear of all claims and encumbrances, with the proceeds going to the bankruptcy estate. The businesses will continue to operate in the normal course of business, with the joint venture assuming ownership upon Court approval.
Beijing Galloping Horse Film Vice Chairman and MD Ivy Zhong said, “Digital Domain is a legend in the industry, known for its world-class quality of work and creative talent. We are thrilled to have found a partner in Reliance MediaWorks that is as committed as we are to ensuring Digital Domain‘s continued excellence and success.”
Reliance MediaWorks Chief Executive Officer, Film & Media Services Venkatesh Roddam said, “We have had a wonderful working relationship with Digital Domain over the years and we could not be happier to take it further through the joint Galloping Horse – Reliance acquisition. We are looking forward to working with Digital Domain employees and customers to make the operation better and stronger.”
Beijing Galloping Horse and Reliance MediaWorks have a combined enterprise value of more than $25 billion, complementary offerings and presence in multiple worldwide geographies strategic to the entertainment industry.
“This is a great day for Digital Domain,” said Digital Domain Chief Executive Officer Ed Ulbrich. “Our new partners have incredible strength and reach in the global entertainment marketplace. They are powerful strategic partners that understand our business and our clients‘ business. Their support enables us to continue creating the highest quality entertainment and advertising and puts us in the strongest financial position that Digital Domain has ever been in. We are grateful to all of the bidders and couldn‘t be more pleased with this outcome.”
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.
