Hindi
Training programme for screenplay writers, finalists to pitch for film projects in Mumbai
NEW DELHI: After its three-year association with the Sundance Institute for the Mumbai Mantra – Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab has come to an end; Mumbai Mantra has now launched ‘The Mumbai Mantra CineRise Screenwriting Programme’, an 8-step lab for screenwriters.
In the first stage of submission, screenwriters need to submit a story on which the script will be based, in six to eight pages. This will be followed by the writer’s statement in just two pages outlining details of the project is about. Thirdly, the writer’s biodata will also have to be submitted with contact details.
Among the submitted applications, 100 stories will be selected for a two day screenwriting workshop which will be held in different cities across India. The finalists will have intensive interactions with experienced writers and directors at the workshop. The selected participants can choose the center closest to their homes.
After the workshop, the screenwriters will have two months to submit the first draft of their screenplays.
After intensive evaluation, twelve to fifteen or more deserving screenplays will be shortlisted for the final selection. These screenplays will be sent to the mentors and other experts, for detailed evaluation and notes.
The finalists will have intensive interactions with experienced writers and directors at the workshop. The selected participants can choose the center closest to their homes. The convenor for this programme will be Anjum Rajabali.
After receiving notes from the mentors, the writers will have one more month to send in the second drafts of their screenplays. The finalists will be invited to a five-day workshop at a resort destination with renowned writers and directors to help them revise their screenplays and then get them ready for a pitch event in Mumbai with studio heads, independent producers, directors, financiers, distributors, film festival directors and curators.
Aspiring script-writers for films can apply till 20 August for the ‘The Mumbai Mantra CineRise Screenwriting Programme’.
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.
