Hindi
PVR Cinemas pilots the Delhi Edition of the Year Round Programme by MAMI
MUMBAI: PVR Cinemas, with its storied history of becoming the leading exhibitor and an eminent platform for all things cinematic launched the Year Round Programme by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) in Delhi.
An epic city-wide celebration of global filmmaking culture and star-studded special screening at PVR ECX, Chanakya marked the official curtain call of the programme’s Delhi Edition. The two-day launch event premiered two of the most sought-after films of the year – Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs and Ari Aster’s Hereditary on the 9th & 10th of June 2018 ahead of their India release.
The launch party was officially opened by Ajay Bijli, Managing Director, PVR Ltd and Sanjeev Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR Ltd; along with Board Members of MAMI – Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bharadwaj and the leadership team of MAMI – Anupama Chopra and Smriti Kiran bringing the best and latest films from all over the world to a city that has always spearheaded support in cultivating art and culture.
PVR Ltd, Managing Director, Ajay Bijli said “Year Round Programme by MAMI represents one of the first opportunities for audiences in Delhi to see the very best from across the globe. This was a natural progression for us to support. PVR has always encouraged and facilitated people to build a relationship with a broad range of films, ensuring that film culture can be accessed and enjoyed by everyone across. With this launch, PVR aspires to bring together distinguished industry specialists and discerning movie lovers through accessible screenings, panels, workshops and showcasing cinema that embraces diversity, innovation and unique perspectives. Aimed at featuring critically acclaimed filmmakers, industry professionals, and award-winning talent around the world, this programme is rich with opportunity – to stay informed, be challenged, feel the pleasure of escape and see the world differently.”
Anupama Chopra said, “I am thrilled that in the 20th year of MAMI, we are stepping out of Mumbai. We hope we can help foster a great cinema culture in Delhi. Thank you PVR for all your support.”
PVR Ltd, Joint Managing Director, Sanjeev Kumar Bijli said “We are delighted to partner with MAMI and launch a screening event in the national capital, Delhi. Led by Kiran Rao, Anupama Chopra and Smriti Kiran, MAMI has established itself as a premier film festival and is recognized globally as a platform to showcase some of the best cinema in the world. From the red carpet premiers, to the carefully selected and curated films, it’s an event that everyone looks forward to. At PVR, we are proud of our ongoing association, and it gives us immense pleasure to be able to bring this to our ardent fans of great cinema in Delhi.”
MAMI, Creative Director, Smriti Kiran said “We are so thrilled to get the MAMI Year Round Programme to the film lovers in Delhi! Our commitment is to showcase the best of the cinema for movie lovers and create a strong film culture in the city. To alter sensibility, you have to engage regularly and facilitate viewers to celebrate and dissect, discuss and debate, engage and argue, agree and disagree about what they love most: Cinema. We are grateful to PVR Cinemas for being the MAMI champions and partnering with us yet again in our endeavour to nurture audiences and build a cinema viewing culture for the cinephiles in the country. We have big plans for Dilli!”
The MAMI Year Round Programme launched in 2016 in Mumbai, is a one of a kind film programme started with the belief that it is not enough to have a week-long film festival. The Academy now hosts weekly screenings, workshops and conversation sessions for film lovers in the country. This has given us a year-long imprint and presence as opposed to presence only for a week in the year. Through this unique curation, passionate movie nuts can sign up and get free access to the best and latest Indian and International films throughout the year.
What makes the Delhi Edition even more special is that it will happen at the newly launched PVR ECX, Chanakyapuri. The property holds great nostalgic value for Delhiites as it is the brand new avatar of the iconic Chanakya cinema showcasing a wide spectrum of great content that is the cornerstone of MAMI.
Till date, The MAMI Year Round Programme in Mumbai has screened over 40 films which include Lady Bird, The Square, Zama, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missourie and Village Rockstars. There are about 7000+ members enrolled for this 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.
