Hindi
Silver Linings Playbook to open 14th Mumbai Film Fest
MUMBAI: David O Russell ‘s critically acclaimed comedy-drama film Silver Linings Playbook is going to be the opening film of Mumbai‘s most eagerly awaited cultural event, the 14th Mumbai Film Festival.
Adapted from Matthew Quick‘s novel of the same name, the film boasts of a multi-star cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Anupam Kher, Julia Stiles and Chris Tucker.
The film revolves around the life of Pat Solatano who has lost everything – his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation.
All that Pat‘s parents want is that he should get back on his feet and share the family‘s obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated.
Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he‘ll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.
The riveting on-screen chemistry between Cooper and Lawrence has received rave reviews. India‘s own veteran actor Anupam Kher has been appreciated for his clever performance as Pat‘s therapist, who‘s also a passionate Eagles fan. And Chris Tucker drops in now and then as a nutty pal from the clinic, who seems quite comfortable with his tics.
With its world premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, the film won the People‘s Choice Award for the Best Narrative Feature.
The film‘s screening at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival will mark its Asia premiere with Anupam Kher presenting the film at the opening function.
Commenting on this, Festival Director, Srinivasan Narayanan said, “At the Mumbai Film Festival, we have always striven to get the best movie for our patrons. This year‘s Opening Film David O. Russell‘s ‘Silver Linings Playbook‘ validates our constant drive. It is an honor that Mr. Anupam Kher will be presenting the film at the opening.”
Avered Kher, who plays a pivotal role in this film, “On behalf of Weinstein Co. my Producers, Director David Russell, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Jeniffer Lawrence, Chris Tucker and other cast and crew I feel honoured to present Silver Linings Playbook as the opening film of prestigious 14th Mumbai Film Festival.”
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.
