Hindi
Two Indian films added to Toronto International Filmfest programme
NEW DELHI: The Toronto International Film Festival, which had earlier announced its selections, has now added two more Indian films in different sections.
Margarita, with a Straw directed by Shonali Bose will get a world premiere in Contemporary World Cinema programme while Megha Ramaswamy’s short film Newborns will screen in the inaugural Short Cuts International programme.
Margarita, with a Straw revolves around Laila (Kalki Koechlin), a young romantic and a secret rebel in a wheelchair. Undeterred by cerebral palsy, she embarks on exhilarating adventures of self discovery, which causes a rift both within and with those she is closest to. Ultimately, it is in the intensity of these bonds where she must find the strength to truly be herself.
Newborns attempts to provide a lens to the survivors of acid violence, to look forward and gaze back. They take us through the ennui of their domestic and public spaces in a nameless dystopian city, its factories, houses and motels, and its promises, never honoured.
A total of 36 international shorts from 29 countries will be screened in the newly introduced short film section at the 39th Festival from 4 to 14 September.
The programme presents the latest works of some of the most provocative and important voices in cinema from around the globe.
Several other Asian films have also been added. They include the world premieres of Johnnie To’s Don’t Go Breaking My Heart and Revenge of the Green Dragons, co-directed by Andrew Lau and Andrew Loo.
Other new titles include Joel C. Lamangan’s Justice Hustisya, Liew Seng Tai’s Men who save the World and Chang Jung-chi’s Partners in Crime.
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.
