Hindi
Indian filmmaker among eleven receiving Hubert Bals Fund for script development
NEW DELHI: Filmmaker Bikas Ranjan Mishra has beenselected to receive the Hubert Bals Fund for script development from the International Film Festival Rotterdam for his film Wild Fire.
The Fund selected 11 projects from nine countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Wild Fire was also selected for Cinemart, the international co-production market of the Festival in January this year.
A selection of film projects supported by the HBF will also participate in Boost!, the coaching trajectory of the HBF, CineMart and Rotterdam Lab, in cooperation with Binger FilmLab.
Three new partners will join the initiative this year, including the National Film Development Corporation of India. The others are Fundacion TyPA in Argentina and the Durban FilmMart in South Africa.
Supported by MEDIA Mundus, every year five HBF-supported filmmakers are given the possibility to further develop their scripts at Binger Filmlab. Additionally these projects participate in co-production markets and workshops in India, Argentina or South Africa, after which they take part in CineMart or Rotterdam Lab during IFFR 2014. The selection of Boost! 2013 will be announced soon.
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.
