Hindi
Global women filmfest to showcase 140 films
NEW DELHI: France is the focus country and a total of around 140 feature and short films from over 40 countries are to be screened at the 4th India International Women Film Festival, scheduled to be held here from 7 December.
The eight-day festival which concludes on 14 December will relate to women empowerment, where women are being showcased not just as objects of visual pleasure but behind the camera.
Tributes will be paid to seven Indian women filmmakers: Arundhati Devi, Manju Dey, Sai Paranjpye, Aparna Sen, Kalpana Lajmi, Vijaya Mehta and Prema Karanth.
Hollywood actress Cassandra Gava and Faye Dunway (Oscar Winning Actress) and Bollywood actresses Juhi Chawla and Tanushree Dutta have confirmed participation to encourage women directors and join hands with the IIWFF Slogan “Women Behind the Camera”.
Many celebrities including actress and director Aparna Sen, Madhavi Mukhrjee, filmmaker Nabyendu Chaterjee, painters Jogen Chowdhory and Subha Prasanno are also expected to be present.
According to Festival Director Shymali Banerjee, the Festival has the support of the Union Ministries of Information and Broadcasting, Culture, and External Affairs, and the Government of Delhi NCT. The Associate Partners who have confirmed so far include Sahara India, Asian Academy of Film and Television, 1Take Movie.COM, Times of India, Radio Mirchi, and Zee TV.
The programme this year includes Competition –World Cinema (Feature), Competition (Documentary), Indian Panorama, Retrospective, Kinder Films, Joint Hands, Focus Institute, Male Voice, and Short Films (Out of Competition).
IIWFF is launching a Talent campus this year, which is a platform for amateur filmmakers to conquer the real reel experiences from internationally acclaimed filmmakers. The 2008 Talent Campus will include certain smoldering issues in the field of World Cinema, and will be in the form of Seminars, Workshops and Guest Lectures, and a specially designed programme ’24 Hrs Filmmaking Competition’ which is also a Part of Talent Campus. The top two films will be awarded in the Closing Ceremony and all films will be exhibited on the last day of the festival. Each candidate will be given a Certificate of Recommendation.
The film festival ambience will include a film lounge, seminars, Face to Face, Painting Exhibitions, Open Forums and Cultural Programmes.
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.
