Hindi
Rapid Eye Movies bags German rights of Peepli Live
MUMBAI: The German rights of UTV Motion Pictures and Aamir Khan Productions‘ Peepli Live, directed by Anusha Rizvi, has been bagged by German distribution company Rapid Eye Movies.
Rapid Eye has also acquired the Home Video and Television for the territory.
Commenting on the acquisition, Rapid Eye Pictures founder Stephan Holl said, “We are thrilled to bring to the German audience a true Indian art house film that entertains whilst telling a serious story.”
Peepli Live is Anusha Rizvi‘s first feature. It is a fresh and intelligently spun satire of the real-life epidemic of farmer suicides that have plagued India for the past decade.
Said UTV Motion Pictures VP, International Distribution and Syndication Amrita Pandey, “Rapid Eye is an ideal distribution partner for us to plan a theatrical Germany release for the film.”
Peepli Live is the first Indian film ever that was selected at the Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Dramatic competition) and was also screened in out of competition at the Berlin Film Festival.
Peepli Live will be released in Germany in the third quarter of this year.
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.
