Hindi
Deepa Mehta film to open IFFLA
MUMBAI: The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has announced that writer director Dilip Mehta‘s Cooking With Stella will be screened as the opening night film of its eighth annual festival on 20 April.
Mehta makes his feature film directorial debut with this film, a warm-hearted comedy about scheming cook Stella (Seema Biswas) who uses her long-term service as the personal chef to the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi to run an elaborate grey market import business.
Leading lady Lisa Ray reunites with Mehta and producer and co-writer Deepa Mehta after Hollywood/Bollywood and the 2007 Academy Award nominated film Water both of which were directed by Deepa Mehta.
Says Screen Actors Guild National Executive Director David White, “We are thrilled to support the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles in its efforts to expand the relationship between Hollywood and the Indian film community and it is our distinct honour to celebrate the artistic and social contributions of our member Lisa Ray.”
Lisa Ray, Dilip and Deepa Mehta will be in attendance at the film‘s Los Angeles premiere.
The festival runs from 20 to 25 April.
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.
