Hindi
Thailand taps Indian filmmakers with beautiful locales
MUMBAI: In its bid to pep up the number of Indian filmmakers shooting their films in Thailand, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is making fresh initiatives. As films are the most effective medium to attract tourism, the TAT is looking at tapping the Indian film industry in a big way.
Said Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Suraphon Svetasreni, “Over the years, the number of Indian films shot in our country have been increasing. Indians prefer shooting at locations like Bangkok and Pattaya. Now these are the times that we introduce them and educate the filmmakers on new avenues that would be best captured in films.” He was hinting at places like Rayong, Phuket, Koh Chang and Krabi.
In this connection, people at TAT plan to showcase new destinations to filmmakers. Incidentally, TAT has been inviting filmmakers of big-budget films like Race 2 and Housefull 2 on one hand while on the other, it has been tapping small budget and regional filmmakers. Out of 100 films shot in Thailand last year, over 44 were Telugu films.
According to TAT marketing and public relations officer Sonalee Vaz, Thailand is a value for money destination and, hence, doesn’t look at giving investment perks.
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.
