Hindi
‘Federation of Western India Cine Employees’ conducts a successful conclave with 22 crafts union’s association
Mumbai: The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), the nodal body for all cine employees hosted a formal get-together and benevolence meeting with the leaders of the 22 crafts union’s associations affiliated to it on 7th March 2018 at Pathare Prabhu Hall, Andheri (West), Mumbai.FWICE President B.N. Tiwari and General Secretary Ashok Dubey with their office bearers representing the rights and privileges of cine workers had initiated this meeting over sumptuous food to discuss to the key policies pertaining to the welfare of the cine artistes, technicians and workers with film and television producers’ union leaders too.
The gathering even witnessed union that had separated from the federation earlier like Asia’s largest film labour union, ‘Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union’ (FSSAMU) whose ex-chairman was veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty and now is chaired by the dynamic and dashing MLA Ram Kadam. Gangeshwarlal Shrivastav a.k.a. Sanju, the brave and undaunted General Secretary of FSSAMU attended this meeting which was well received.
T.P. Aggarwal – filmmaker and President of Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA), Ashoke Pandit – a filmmaker and social activist and the Vice President of (IMPPA) and ex-president of Indian Films & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA), Sushant Singh – actor and General Secretary of Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA), Gajendra Chauhan – actor and ex-chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Prabhat Pandey – secretary of Western India Film Producers’ Association (WIFPA), actor Abhimanyu Singh, Mahamandelshwar Sanjay Giri Maharaj, Ashfaque Khopekar – President of Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards, Sharad Devram Shelar – filmmaker and hotelier and many other prominent office bearers of the association were also present on the occasion.
The threesome viz B.N. Tiwari, Gangeshwarlal Shrivastav and Ashok Dubey took turns in felicitating and honoring all the union leaders and guest with bouquets and glory. The combination of these three men looked like a power of strength who together will successfully maneuver the herculean task of providing the rights and welfare of cine employees of FWICE and taking it to greater heights by leaving no stone unturned.
Speaking on the occasion, B.N. Tiwari, the President of FWICE said, “We all are like a family and stay bonded. Together we have organized this mammoth gathering for harboring proper and effective communications like a joint family and help each other in their needs.” He further added, “We do not intend to harass any film or television producers. We would like to co-operate and work in hands like a team. We would not stop the shooting, but will negotiate our cine workers genuine demand and work conditions. Thus we should think of each other and come to terms.”
Apart from the President and General Secretary of FWICE, their Senior Vice President – Raja Khan, Vice President Sangam Upadhyay, Joint Secretaries – Stalin D’souza and Rajan Singh, Treasurer – Wasim Quresh and all the respective heads of all the affiliated 22 unions came together under one roof to make the event a grand and memorable one.
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.
