Hindi
Himmatwala gets a lukewarm response at the BO
MUMBAI: Sajid Khan‘s remake of the 1983 hit Himmatwala failed to live up to expectations. With most of the audience and critics dismissing the movie, Himmatwala‘s chances at a thundering box office run seem bleak. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter were flooded with jabs at the movie and the director with one of the jokes making the rounds in the trade being that Himmatwala is the first film to be titled after its viewer. The film had a weak opening compared to the hype and expectations and the collections fell further over the weekend collecting Rs 283 million for the first three days.
Horror flick Aatma ended its first week with collections of Rs 83.5 million.
Court room drama starring Boman Irani and Arshad Warsi Jolly LLB was steady in its second week adding Rs 91 million and took its 17 day total to Rs 278.5 million.
Another south Indian remake that has backfired in recent times is Jackky Bhagnani satrrer Rangrezz which remained poor in its first week and managed to collect just Rs 61.5 million.
Mere Dad Ki Maruti collected about Rs 25 million in its second week taking its 17 day total to Rs 101 million.
Tigmanshu Dhulia‘s critically acclaimed and appreciated sequel to Saheb Biwi Gangster, Saheb Biwi Gangster Returns collected Rs 7.5 million in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 214.5 million.
Abhishek Kapoor‘s Kai Po Che which has been adapted from Chetan Bhagat‘s Three Mistakes of my Life collected Rs 11 million in its fifth week taking its total collection since releasing to Rs 486 million.
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.
