Hindi
Avatar still rules the box-office
MUMBAI: A week after its release, James Cameron‘s Avatar still reigns the Indian box-office with its 10-day collection totaling a whopping Rs 500 million that makes the film the fourth-biggest Hollywood film ever in India.
Not only has Avatar broken box-office records of Hollywood films like of 2012, Titanic and Spiderman 3 but also ranks No. 7 amongst the big Bollywood films in India surpassing the opening week collections of top Hindi films like All The Best, Kaminey, Delhi 6 and New York. The film has, in fact, beaten the openings of recent high profile Hindi films like Rocket Singh and Paa as well.
The epic action adventure has broken several records in India and abroad and is still going strong at the box-office.
In the overseas circuit, the film collected $620 million worldwide with a cumulative drop of just 10 per cent from last week.
Released on 18 December across India, Avatar earned a record Rs 10 million through its paid previews across India, the highest for any Hollywood film in India. The film then created a record by grossing Rs 67 million on the opening day itself, making it the biggest ever Friday opening for any Hollywood film in India.
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.
