Hindi
Priyadarshan in a $ 20mn deal with Woodpecker Pictures
MUMBAI: Four Frames, director Priyadarshan‘s production house, has inked a $20 million deal with Woodpecker Pictures & Entertainment Ltd to produce two Hindi feature films.
The two films involving Woodpecker Pictures, the Indian subsidiary of US-based entertainment fund Woodpecker Holding Inc, will be directed by Priyadarshan.
As part of the deal, Woodpecker will be forwarding the entire investments for the productions.
The first of the two productions will go on the floors in April with a start-to-finish 60-day schedule in Lucknow and abroad. The first project will be based on a hit Tamil film featuring four friends. The second will be another start-to-finish venture between September and December 2010.
Woodpecker is also in negotiations for a mainstream international movie with a top Hollywood cast to be shot in Mexico that Priyadarshan would be directing as part of the third project of this joint venture.
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.
