Hindi
SC rejects Subash Ghai’s plea on Whistling Woods land
MUMBAI: The Supreme Court has upheld the Bombay High Court order quashing the 20 acre land allotted to Subash Ghai’s film institute Whistling Wood International at the Film City, Mumbai.
Saying that the CM cannot bend or bypass rules to give away government land, a bench of justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad pulled up former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for allotting the land in 2004.
“One cannot be treated as blue-eyed boy for which chief minister can bend or bypass rules to give away the land of the state,” the bench observed. They were of the view that there was lack of transparency in the allotment of land as many CMs prior to Deshmukh had not cleared the project.
On his part Ghai averred, “I respect the judiciary of my country. Supreme Court dismissed our appeal on the grounds that Maharashtra Government should have followed proper governance to enter into a joint venture to run a film school in film city. People also must take precautions before dealing with the state Government than being penalised after 10 years with heavy investment and losses.”
So what will happen to Whistling Woods? “It will survive as bright as ever though we may miss the land. Land is never a strength of education, rather education is the strength of any land. We are opening Whistling Woods in many states now and will also carry on movie business in full strength. We will discuss future course of action with our team of lawyers and wait for Government reaction on Supreme Court judgment,” said Ghai.
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.
