Hindi
Satyajit Ray’s ‘Apu’ trilogy among top films in Asia: Busan Filmfest
NEW DELHI: Indian cine craftsman Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy stands at the fifth place in the top ten films in Asia drawn up during the 20th Busan International Film Festival.
In a separate list of the top ten directors, Ray again figures at the fifth place.
Ray is the only Indian filmmaker to have won an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Oscar Committee had come to Kolkata to give him his honour as he was ill at the time. He passed away in April 1992 at the age of 71.
The top film is Tokyo Story from Japan whose director Ozu Yasujiro features at the top in the director’s list.
The ‘Asian Cinema 100’ for the Special Programme in Focus this year at the Festival aims to celebrate its history and is a collaboration project with the Festival and the Busan Cinema Centre to shed light on the values of Asian film.
The list will be updated every five years to act as a guide for the aesthetic value and history of Asian cinema and to discover hidden masterpieces and talented directors of Asia.
For the project, 73 prominent film professionals included film critics such as Jonathan Rosenbaum, Tony Rayns, Hasumi Shigehiko, and festival executives, programmers, and directors Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Bong Joon-ho, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
They recommended their top 10 films, resulting in 113 selections and 106 directors (including joint rankings) for the final 100 list.
Akira Kurosawa had two films in the top 10 list that included Rashomon (1950) in second place and Seven Samurai (1954) at sixth place.
The top 10 (a total of 11 films) will screen under Asian Cinema 100. A special book containing the details and reviews of the films on the list by 29 film professionals will be published during the Festival.
Interestingly, Close Up from Iran is listed at the eleventh number, while its popular director Abbas Kiarostami figures at number three in the Directors List.
There are three Japanese films and two films each from China and Taiwan in the list of eleven films.
The Apu Trilogy (Satyajit Ray, 1955) depicts the life of Apu in Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito; (1956), and Apur Sansar (1959). A masterpiece that realistically and placidly portrays Indian society. Ray is called a master of Asian film as well as the father of Indian cinema.
[Special Program in Focus: Asian Cinema 100 – Top 10 Screening List (11 total, including joint ranking]
[Special Program in Focus: Asian Cinema 100 – Top 10 Directors (including joint ranking]
Hindi
Jio Studios, Sanjay Dutt team up to revive Khal Nayak
Rights acquired for new version, format under wraps as remake plans take shape.
MUMBAI: The villain is back and this time, he’s rewriting his own script. Jio Studios has partnered with Three Dimension Motion Pictures and Aspect Entertainment to revive the 1993 cult classic Khal Nayak, marking a fresh chapter for one of Bollywood’s most iconic anti-hero stories. The original film, directed by Subhash Ghai under Mukta Arts, was a commercial and cultural milestone, with Sanjay Dutt’s portrayal of Ballu becoming one of Hindi cinema’s most memorable performances.
Dutt, along with Aksha Kamboj, has now acquired the rights from the original creators, bringing on board Jio Studios and its President Jyoti Deshpande to steer the project creatively.
While the exact format whether remake, sequel, prequel, or a completely new narrative remains undisclosed, the collaboration aims to reinterpret the story for contemporary audiences while retaining the essence that made the original a defining film of the 1990s.
The move taps into a broader industry trend of reviving legacy intellectual property, particularly characters with strong recall value. “Khal Nayak” was notable for pushing mainstream Hindi cinema into morally grey territory at a time when heroes were largely one-dimensional, making Ballu’s character a standout.
The project also marks the film production debut of Aspect Entertainment, signalling a push towards more technology-led storytelling frameworks. Meanwhile, Jio Studios continues to expand its slate, having built a library of over 200 films and series, with more than 60 titles collectively winning 500-plus awards.
For Dutt, the revival is as much personal as it is strategic, a return to a role that reshaped his career. For the industry, it is another sign that nostalgia, when paired with scale, remains a powerful box-office proposition.
Because in Bollywood, some villains never fade, they just wait for the perfect comeback.
