Hindi
Avatar crosses Rs 1 billion mark
MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios‘ Avatar has crossed the Rs 1 billion mark, a milestone no Hollywood movie has reached in India.
With a current gross collection of Rs 1.1 billion, Avatar is also the biggest ever 3D film in India. 3D amounted to 35 per cent of Avatar‘s total gross collections. Doing strong business across various centers in India, the movie has earned record collections at Imax and 3D theatres across India.
While collections from the English prints amount to Rs 505 million, the film has also earned Rs 260 million with its Hindi dubbed version and a further 240 million from Tamil & Telugu dubbed versions.
The film has also overtaken 3 Idiots in several parts of North and South India and is also giving strong competition to local superstar movies in South India.
Interestingly, the collections from single screens (49 per cent) is as high as the earnings from multiplexes (51 per cent ) which proves that the film has been appreciated by audiences all over.
Says Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh, “The phenomenal success of Avatar has been a trailblazer as viewers responded across metro cities as also smaller markets. The film‘s success also demonstrates Fox Star Studios‘ ability to successfully handle the marketing and distribution of big films. We eagerly look forward to the Oscar season.”
Agrees trade analyst Taran Adarsh, “Post Titanic, Avatar is the first Hollywood film that continues to work wonders at the box-office, even after several weeks of release.”
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.
