Hindi
Shah Rukh Khan awarded for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Cinema’
MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan has been honoured at the fifth annual Asian Awards for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Cinema.’
“I am extremely humbled and honoured to receive this award. I say this very often that my stardom belongs to most South East Asians who reside abroad who have made the Indian cinema and me known around the world. I congratulate all the winners at the Asian Awards as well. There is so much talent around Asia and so many achievers, whether it was Dr Amar Bose, the Hinduja Brothers or Zayn Malik. I am glad to have been a part of such a wonderful celebration of hard work by people in difference field but similar passion,” said Khan.
Hosted by fashion icon, Gok Wan, The Asian Awards dazzled with an array of global celebrities, dignitaries and influencers, including Zayn Malik, Lydia Bright, Casey Batchelor, Ollie Locke, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal, John Rocha, Michelle Collins, Nick Moran, Preeya Kalidas, Anna Williamson, Kelly Hoppen, Danielle Lineker, Anita Rani, Tasmin Lucia Khan, Colin Jackson and Cerys Matthews amongst others.
Founded by Paul Sagoo, The Asian Awards celebrates the outstanding achievements of individuals born in or with direct origin from across Pan-Asia in all disciplines of life – from business and the arts, to sport and public service. Previous winners in the cinema category include, Irrfan Khan, Anupam Kher and Yash Chopra.
Picking up the award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sport’ was Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara, and the prize for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Science & Technology’ went to Sir Tejinder Singh Virdee. ‘The Outstanding Achievement in Television’ award went to comedian, actor and broadcaster, Sanjeev Bhaskar, while the Hinduja brothers were awarded as ‘Business Leaders of the Year.’ Zayn Malik picked up the prize for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music.’
Previous winners at The Asian Awards include Sir Ben Kingsley, Jackie Chan, Sachin Tendulkar, Bruce Lee, Sir David Tang, Amitabh Bachchan, Freddie Mercury and Ahmed Kathrada who was jailed alongside Nelson Mandala on Robben Island in the fight against apartheid.
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.
