Hindi
Shoojit Sircar tries Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s style in ‘Piku’
NEW DELHI: If at one time it was said that the stars made or unmade a film at the box office, it can now safely be said that the buzz created on the social media – especially by the stars of a film – contribute vastly to its success.
More than a fortnight before the release date of Piku, Amitabh Bachchan had started sending out trailors of the film on his Twitter handle with messages like ‘Laughter! Enjoyment! Fun! That’s what happens when crazy people get together.’
If the popularity of the trailer on social media is anything to go by, Piku is amongst the most anticipated films this year, particularly as it is reminiscent of the light-hearted films of the late Hrishikesh Mukherjee – even when he dealt with serious subjects.
The film, which will release on 8 May, is produced by the makers of Vicky Donor starring Bachchan along with Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan.
Quirky and funny with oodles of situational humour, the film highlights the eccentricities within every Indian family, told in signature Shoojit Sircar style.
While this film about a crazy father-daughter duo is packaged with ingredients that make for a perfect family comedy, Sircar seems to be bringing back the slice-of-life-cinema, which was made popular by filmmakers like Mukherjee.
A huge admirer of Mukherjee’s work, Sircar explores a relatable story and human relationships reminiscent of Hrishikesh Mukherjee films like Gol Maal, Mili, Chupke Chupke and Guddi promising clean entertainment to the audiences after a long time.
Sircar said, “Piku has got a universal connect because every Indian family or for that matter every family is quirky and crazy in its own way. In this case, Baba and Piku make for one of the craziest families around. All I have done is take the camera and place it between them as they go about living their life replete with events and situations that are bizarre, crazy and yet very familiar to you and me. Hrishikesh Da told the simplest stories in the most unusual and entertaining fashion, which is why audiences still swear by them. We hope to warm your heart and put a smile on your face through Piku!”
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.
