Hindi
Harun-Arun wins Golden Butterfly award at Isfahan Fest
MUMBAI: Children‘s Film Society‘s Gujarati Film Harun-Arun has won the Golden Butterfly award at the 25th Isfahan International Children Film Festival (ICFF) in Iran, as the ‘Best Asian‘ film.
The film, directed by Vinod Ganatra, explores the story of Harun, who is extremely fond of Indian film songs. The rough life in a hostile environment has taught him a lot of survival skills. On hearing stories about his family in India, Harun is excited and is keen to visit them, but after being separated, while crossing the border, he is compelled to undertake the journey to Lakhpat on his own.
On the Indian side, Harun comes across three Indian children who take him under their wings, hiding and protecting him without the knowledge of their mother Valbai, until he finds new home. An exuberant game of hide-and-seek ensues in this heartwarming story of youthful courage and powerful friendship in a divided nation. This proves that issues of the heart are the issues of the world, not limited to any community or clan or geographical boundaries.
Among the several awards it won, Harun-Arun started its journey with winning the prestigious Liv Ullmann Peace Prize at Chicago in November, 2009. Later, the film won awards at the Dhaka International Film Festival in January, 2010 and Transmedia ‘Critics Jury Award‘ in March, 2010. It followed up by bagging the CIFEJ jury prize and special mention for humanity award by a children‘s jury at the Rimouski International Film Festival, among others.
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.
